Idea Generation Part 2
Reading Lights
HMW 1: How might we make reading easier in dim conditions?
HMW 2: How might we illuminate a book in a travel friendly way?
Set Up:

Out of the four participants, two are sophomores, one is a freshman, and one a junior. Two are from Minnesota, one from South Dakota, and one from Iowa. All participants have a background in snowboarding and skateboarding, and for the most part are in the college of design.
The brainstorming session was held in the couch section at Purple Onion. The group used post it notes and sharpies. I initially posted each idea to the wall, but soon realized the wall was not very agreeable, instead settling on putting them on the table.
The session was roughly 40 minutes long.

I had my group do the “tigers are cool” improv exercise.
Warm Up:
For my warm up, I had the four participants go outside and attempt to all ride the same skateboard without talking or forming a strategy. It was both a physical activity to get the blood flowing, and a teamwork exercise to break the ice. Since each participant had some form of experience with skateboarding, the exercise was successful. One participant later remarked, “we used to do this all the time in South Dakota.” After this exercise, the group was much more energetic.

Brainstorm Session:
There were 81 ideas total with an IPM of 1.0125 per person.
After having the group vote on their favorite ideas, it became apparent they chose the ones that were the most outlandish, not necessarily the best ideas. In fact, many of the highest voted ideas were from when I asked how to make reading more difficult in low light situations. For example, the idea with the most votes was ‘wet pages’.
The main categories the group settled on the second time around were ideas that make no sense, changes to the books themselves to make reading easier, and alternative sources of light.



What can we learn from my brainstorming session?
Host a brainstorming session at a semi productive time.
Choose a group that is friendly but not extremely tight knit.
Have specific HMW statements.
Have the group sit in chairs that promote more productive posture.
Be clear about how the group should go about rearranging the ideas.
Top 10 Ideas:










