02.26 // Ideation Lecture, Class Activity

Syllabus | Class Box Folder | Ideation Assignment

Students ideate based on researched insights

Today’s lecture focused on the move from insights to ideation, with loose structure for class activity—

• Turn researched insights into “how might we (HMW)” statements on post-it notes (5 minutes, individual)
• Review HMW statements (in teams)
• Brainstorm potential solutions (in teams)
• Each team member votes twice, (1) most innovative, (2) most successful
• Consolidate and determine team’s most innovative and most successful ideas

Students explore different possible solutions

Questions to consider —

Research + ideation. In what ways does research (observational, cultural probes, secondary, etc) inform ideation? How might ideation without research look?

Individual vs. team ideation. What is the optimal mix of individual and team effort in ideation? What might the frequency and velocity of interaction be?

Constraints on time. How does setting a time constraint impact (and create tradeoffs with) creativity, focus and momentum?

Democracy in design. In what ways does democratic voting influence design outcomes? What are other ways of evaluating and narrowing down into design decisions?

Ideation sketches, credit: Paige Russell