Idea Generation Part 2
Outline:
10/29 : set up brainstorming date and time with group members
10/30: develop outline for how brainstorming session will go (warm up games, idea generation prompts, craft “how might we” statements, etc.)
10/31: purchase supplies for brainstorming session
11/1: complete brainstorming session
11/2: professionally document results of brainstorming session
11/3: describe brainstorming session
11/4: look through past blog post ideas, choose 10 best ideas
11/5: design presentation ideas
11/6: finalize blog and post by 10 p.m.
HMW’s:
Based on my problem statements from the user research in Assignment 3, I crafted two How Might We Statements that best represented my topic problem/opportunity. My first statement was broad and focused on the relationship bewtween commuters and their phones. My second statement specifically focused on aesthetics of car phone mounts. Below are the two statements I developed and used.
- Drivers need a way to safely view and control their phone without taking their hands off the wheel.
- How might we change the way commuters interact with their phone while driving?
2. Hailey, a 21 year old college student, needs a way to hide her car phone mount when it’s not in use because she finds it to be unappealing.
- How might we make car phone mounts more visually appealing?
Set Up:
The brainstorming session took place on November 1st at 2:45 pm in the living room of my apartment, 412 Lofts. The information below represents the background information of my four participants.

Participants:
Sammy
- 21 year old white female from Woodbury, MN
- Senior in the College of Liberal Arts at UMN
- Major: Global Studies
- Minor: Public Health
- Car on campus:
- iPhone X
- Owns a car phone mount: yes
Hailey
- 21 year old white female from Wayzata, MN
- Senior in the college of liberal arts at UMN
- Major: Business Marketing Education
- Minor: Leadership
- Car on Campus: yes
- Car: Toyota Corolla
- iPhone X
- Owns a car phone mount: yes
Chris
- 22 year old white male from Saint Paul, MN
- Senior in the Carlson School of Business at UMN
- Major: Finance international business
- Minor: spanish
- Car on campus: no
- iPhone 6S
Gabe
- 21 year old white male from St. Cloud, MN
- Senior in the Carlson school of business at UMN
- Major: finance and accounting
- Car on campus: no
- iPhone 8 plus
Below is the schedule I followed while leading the brainstorming session, including the materials I used as well.
Materials:
- Large sticky notes
- Markers
- Stickers
- Candy

- Improv Games: (10 minutes)
- Mimic (5 minutes)
- Storyteller (5 minutes)
2. General ideas (10 minutes)
- Any ideas related to product topic
3. HMW Statement 1 (10 minutes)
- How might we change the way commuters interact with their phone while driving?
4. HMW Statement 2 (10 minutes)
- How might we make car phone mounts more visually appealing?
Document ideas with photos
5. Sorting (5 minutes)
- silently group ideas based on common themes
Document ideas with photos
6. Vote (5 minutes)
- Have participants vote with stickers on their top 8 most interesting ideas (more than one sticker can be placed on an individual idea)
Document ideas with photos
7. Document 10 best ideas and those who came up with them
Warm Up
I began my brainstorming session with an original improv game called “mimic”. Someone begins by walking up to someone in the group and greets them while repeating an action, for example, bouncing a basketball. They would say “Hi ___, I am painting a house”, even though they are obviously bouncing a basketball. The person “receiving” this action will then greet the person by saying “Hi ____, I am brushing my hair” but would mimic the action the first person said they were doing. This would continue until each person in the group had a turn or until the leader stopped the game.
I also had my group play the story-teller game which we learned during the improv workshop in class.

Brainstorm Session
Outcome:
The total number of ideas
- 92
The IPM for the session:
- 4 people, 1 hour, 92 ideas
- IPM: 2.6 ideas/minute
- Warm up Activites
I began the session with two warm up games that took five minutes each. We started with the first game, “mimic”, which I explained earlier. The group enjoyed this game and it helped them break down any walls they had up previously. Story teller, a game I learned at the improv workshop, was the second game we played. Before starting the story, the group decided on a creature, the creature’s name, and what it was doing. We then went around the circle and told a story about this creature, but only one word at a time could be said by each person. In the end we came up with a very strange yet humorous story. This game helped create a relaxed and comfortable environment where participants weren’t afraid to share their ideas.
2. General ideas (10 minutes)
I started off the sketching portion of the brainstorming session by prompting my group to sketch any ideas related to product topic. They had free reign to come up with as many ideas as they could think of in 10 minutes. I encouraged participants that this was a judgement free and creative environment.

3. HMW Statement 1 (10 minutes)
The first HMW statement I presented was “how might we change the way commuters interact with their phones while driving?”. This statement seemed obvious once I took a step back and looked at the amount of people that use their phone while in the car. Using a car phone mount is just one way in which drivers interact with their phones, so I felt this prompt would be helpful in developing even more possibilities. My group had a harder time getting the ball rolling, however, they still developed interesting ideas.

4. HMW Statement 2 (10 minutes)
The second HMW statement I presented to the group was “how might we make car phone mounts more visually appealing?”. In completing my past research I found a lot of consumers wanted phone mounts that had a higher aesthetic value. The group seemed to have an easier and more enjoyable time developing ideas for this statement compared to the first one.

5. Sorting (5 minutes)
I gave the group 5 minutes to silently sort the ideas in the way they see best fit. The group worked together with hand gestures and facial expressions to come up with different categories that would fit all of the ideas. The major categories I observed are listed below:
- clothing/wearable items
- services
- decorative/themed
- aesthetics
- hybrid
- pre-installed



6. Vote (5 minutes)
I then had the group vote on which ideas they found most interesting by using colored dot stickers. The color of the stickers had nothing to do with the value of the vote, however I told participants they could vote for their own ideas and or put multiple stickers on a single idea. Their favorite ideas were most prevalent in the “decorative” and “hybrid” categories.
Voting Criteria:
- Circle = most interesting ideas
- Color has no meaning

Pictures/names of the 10 best ideas and those who came up with them are listed below:
Tiny suction cup mount — Sammy
- category: aesthetics
- problem it solves: large size
- description: a super strength mini suction cup that is barely noticeable but has the ability to hold any sized phone anywhere in the car
Phone butler — Gabe
- category: service
- problem it solves: bad viewing angle
- description: a mini robot servant that takes voice commands and can hold your phone at any angle
Holiday mount — Chris
- category: themed/decorative
- problem it solves: poor visual appearance
- description: a phone mount themed to the current season/holiday
Mini-me mounts — Chris
- category: aesthetics/decorative
- problem it solves: poor visual appearance
- description: a mini phone mount that resembles the user
Lock box — Sammy
- category: pre-installed
- problem it solves: distraction
- description: a mini lock that that holds your phone and does not open until the trip is over
Reflection mount— Gabe
- category: hybrid
- problem it solves: difficulty of use
- description: an attachable mirror that reflects the driver’s phone screen at any angle
Harness — Sammy
- category: hybrid
- problem it solves: limited use
- description: a harness mount that can be clipped around any surface, object, or article of clothing.
Hanger mount — Gabe
- category: hybrid
- problem it solves: poor aesthetics
- description: a retractable mount that hangs from the ceiling of a car and can be pushed up when it is not in use
Pez machine — Hailey
- category: decorative/themed
- problem it solves: poor visual appearance
- description: a phone mount that dispenses Pez or any type of candy when the driver’s phone is released from the mount
Back-o-seat mount — Chris
- category: hybrid
- problem it solves: limited use
- description: a mount that can be attached to the back of a seat to allow kids or other passengers to mount their devices

Top 10 Ideas
- Bluetooth enabled virtual reality glasses
- Built-in mount
- Swivel seat mount
- Porous metal bar mount
- Adhesive rubber mount
- Mini suction cup mount
- Stainless steel shelf mount
- Pulley mount
- Backseat mount
- Projector mount



