Idea Generation Part II

Molly Hoopingarner
Nov 3 · 7 min read

Summary

Here we are at yet another week of diaper pails. For this week, we branched outside of our own minds and reached out to friends, family, acquaintances, or even strangers. Because I knew none of my friends would want to participate if I asked them to brainstorm diaper pails for an hour, I simply asked them if they want to eat food and play games at a coffee shop. The trap worked.

For this assignment, Blog 5, I held a brainstorming session with four friends. I began by playing three improvisational warm up games, and then, I proposed three prompts for brainstorming. The first was general — come up with new diaper pail ideas. Then, transforming the “need statements” from Assignment 3 into “how might we” statements, I asked two more prompts (see next section). After ideation, the participants sorted the ideas and voted on the top 10. I then selected and sketched the top 10 ideas from this blog and past ones.

How Might We Statements

The following statements were developed from Assignment 3 “need statements.” These “how might we” statements were used as prompts for the brainstorming session.

  • How might we make it easier for parents to insert diapers into the pail?
  • How might we expand the versatility of a diaper pail for parents to have a use for it once they are no longer changing diapers?

Set Up

Participants:

  • Christine: Christine uses the pronouns she/her/hers and identifies as Chinese. She is a 20 year old student at the University of Minnesota. Christine is double majoring in statistics and computer science. Outside of school, Christine works a front desk job and enjoys baking and being involved in her church community.
  • Brigitte: Brigitte uses the pronouns she/her/hers and identifies as White. She is 19 years old and is currently in a program for massage therapy training. Outside of massage school, Brigitte works at a cafe and enjoys dancing, yoga, and hula hooping.
  • Paul: Paul uses the pronouns he/him/his and identifies as Lao. He is a 22 year old graduate from the University of Minnesota. He is originally from Maplewood, Minnesota. Paul recently graduated with a degree in Asian Languages and Literatures, and he is currently in a gap year until enrolling in graduate school. In the meantime, Paul stays involved with campus life by being on the Korean Student Association (KSA) board and staying active within his fraternity — Pi Delta Psi.
  • Ruth: Ruth uses the pronouns she/her/hers and identifies as Korean. She is a 21 year old student at the University of Minnesota. She is originally from White Fish Bay, Wisconsin. Ruth is majoring in marketing and minoring in art. Outside of school, Ruth enjoys painting, drawing and KSA board.

Location:

I had originally planned the brainstorming session to take place in a study room in Biomedical Library, but after thinking about the negative connotations associated with Biomed (sad, dark, lonely, boomed), I decided to try and find a more comfortable location. Therefore, I ended up reserving the library room in Bordertown Coffee. It was very cozy and inviting. However, the lighting was rather dim.

Brainstorming Session Itinerary:

6:00–6:05 PM (5 min): Explanation and Introductions

6:05–6:08 PM (3 min): Zip Zap Zop

6:08–6:13 PM (5 min): Look at Me

6:13–6:18 PM (5 min): Interpretive Tangrams

6:18–6:28 PM (10 min): Brainstorming General Topic

6:28–6:38 PM (10 min): HMW Statement #1 Ideation

6:38–6:48 PM (10 min): HMW Statement #2 Ideation

6:48–6:53 PM (5 min): Organization

6:53–6:58 PM (5 min): Voting

6:58–7:00 PM (2 min): Closing Remarks and Clean Up

Materials List:

  • Sticky notes — used to express ideas
  • Pens — used to express ideas and vote
  • Bananas — dopamine inducing
  • Almond dark chocolate — dopamine inducing
  • Coffee — dopamine inducing
  • Tangram cutouts — used for the warm up activity

Warm Up Activities:

The following section will include a more detailed description of the warm up activities utilized. The warm up activities used are listed below:

  • Zip Zap Zop
  • Look at Me
  • Interpretive Tangrams

Warm Up

Look at Me
  • Zip Zap Zop: Exactly as done in class, Zip Zap Zop is an activity where the participants stand in a circle and point to one another saying “Zip,” “Zap,” or “Zop.” I chose this war up activity because it is a simple and non intimidating way to start off the session.
Interpretive Tangrams
  • Look at Me: This is another activity done in class. During this activity, participants stand in a circle. One person starts acting out an action and states what they are doing. The rest of the group follows the action and comes up with other tasks relevant to that action. I chose this activity because it encouraged movement and energy and was a great way to stimulate creativity.
Traditional Tangram Shapes
  • Interpretive Tangrams: This final warm up activity was on that I made up. This activity was inspired by the Chinese game, Tangrams. In the original Tangrams game, you are given 7 shapes and are challenged to create an image. The image is given to you and you have to try and replicate it using all 7 shapes. For mt warm up activity, rather than give an image to replicate, participants took turns using the 7 shapes to create their own figure. I gave no guidelines. I told them they could use as many or as few of the shapes as they desired. Most used all, but Paul used only the square. Each creator was given 15 seconds to create their figure. Then, we went around the circle, and every participant had to comment on what they saw. Think of this as though one is looking for shapes from the clouds in the sky. I developed this activity to stimulate creation while also harnessing imaginative energy. It was very interesting to hear all of the different things people saw in the same figure.

Brainstorming Session

Ideation

Total Number of Ideas: 86

Ideas Per Minute = 86 ideas/30 minutes of ideation = 2.87 Ideas/Min

Sorting

In the end, the participants grouped the categories:

  1. “Useful” ideas (Located in the upper rows)
  2. “Implausible” Ideas (Located in the bottom rows)
  3. Sports (Its own section)
Sorted Sections

Participants only had 5 minutes to sort the ideas. Given a longer time span, the categories would possibly have been more defined. If time allowed, it also would have been interesting to compare the categories formed without talking to those formed while verbally communicating.

Voting

Four tied for top 10. Final Voting
Initial Voting

Voting Criteria:

  • Novelty
  • Value
  • Feasibility

Highest Voted Ideas:

Each participant received 10 votes. Reflecting back on this voting process, I possibly could have been a bit more strict on the voting criteria. It does not seem as though this group took the voting process seriously. However, at the same time, I did not want to stifle any creativity. There were a few ties for 10th place. After voting on only the ties, the following is the finalized list:

  1. Diaper Eating Monster — Brigitte
  2. Voice Controlled Pail — Christine
  3. Human Pail — Brigitte
  4. Music Pail — Christine
  5. Anywhere Touch Pail — Brigitte
  6. Robot Pail — Ruth
  7. Basketball Pail — Paul
  8. Earth Pail — Brigitte
  9. The Built in Pail — Brigitte
  10. Biodegradable Diaper Bag — Brigitte

Top 10 Ideas

  1. Environmental Pail
  2. Weighted Pail
  3. Sliding Pail
  4. Basketball Pail
  5. Easy Toss Pail
  6. Drawstring Pail
  7. Multi Purpose Trash Pail
  8. Expandable Pail
  9. Flushable Diaper
  10. “Built In” Diaper Pail
ENVIRONMENTAL PAIL / ANTI WEIGHTED PAIL
SLIDING PAIL / BASKETBALL PAIL
EASY TOSS PAIL / DRAWSTRING PAIL
MULTI PURPOSE TRASH PAIL / EXPANDABLE PAIL
FLUSHABLE DIAPER / “BUILT IN” DIAPER PAIL
Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade