Mastering the ideation phase of design thinking
After the empathize stage of the design thinking process comes ideation. Now it’s time to use everything you’ve learnt about your customers to start generating amazing new ideas.
The ideation stage starts with generating ‘How might we…?’ statements. You take the insights you’ve formed about what matters to your customers, and use them to create open-ended questions that will spark innovative and creative solutions. (For help writing yours, check out the How Might We Generator on Sprintbase).
There are a few rules to keep in mind to help get the most out of the ideation phase:
- Involve diverse voices: Brainstorming is best when a broad range of people get involved. Don’t default to your usual team. Bring people with a wide range of perspectives and experience together. Invite your customers to take part too where possible.
- Set yourselves free: At this point, you’re looking for exciting, new ideas, you don’t need to worry about feasibility just yet, so be as creative as you like!
- No judgement: To bring out the best ideas, you need a supportive environment. Don’t judge one another, be open to everybody’s suggestions. Every idea is welcome.
To learn more about ideation, watch our video.
Schedule a free consultation to find out how we can help you use human-centred design to create new products, services or strategies for your customers.