Ideation Hopscotch is a high-energy activity focused on getting a large number of ideas from a group of people. It allows for independent reflection and ideation, but also encourages collaborative conversations and generative participation. This exercise can be easily modified and scaled as needed, but for purposes of this guide, we will assume that you have 24 participants and four “How Might We” (HMW) statements to explore.
Archives: Toolbox
Tools.
Vision Casting
Vision Casting is a visualization method that uses a prepared scenario in order to pull out information regarding people’s thoughts on where they see an organization in five or more years. This is a great method for long-term goal-setting, as it allows people to focus on what success looks like and what it takes to get there. It touches upon, not only the external impact, but the effects on the internal team as well.
Rapid Concepting
Rapid concept sketching is a method used to quickly generate solution ideas for a specific design challenge. You may be asking, why rapid? It’s easy to get bogged down in the details of an initial idea – we want to push past the most obvious solution to get to something innovative.
Embrace Ambiguity
The world is a fuzzy place. Most of our problems are hard to point at – look, there it is! Instead, we live in a gray zone most of the time. Accept it. You can never completely know everything about people – from an individual’s behavior, to a community’s challenges, to an organization’s opportunities.
No matter how much time you spend, you’ll always be left with unanswered questions. It can be incredibly frustrating, but don’t give up. People are worth the trouble – and helping solve real problems is worth wading through seas of ambiguity. Dig in and take the work as far as you can with the time you have. Don’t regret what you didn’t do. Celebrate all that you did.
Graffiti Wall
Graffiti walls are an indirect research method, and a dynamic way to engage with a large number of people. Prompts can encourage writing, drawing, collaging, and more. When presented with thoughtful prompts in appropriate settings, responses can be incredibly powerful as people will oftentimes build off of other’s remarks.
Observation
Observation is an effective method for gaining insight into people and environments in their natural state. There are many different kinds of observation techniques ranging from natural to controlled to analogous environments, to name a few. In our work, we often begin with the A-E-I-O-U template observing Actions, Environment, Interactions, Objects, and Users.
Listen to Learn
You don’t have all the answers. Sure, you might agree in principle, but most days you live life like you know it all. After all, grown-ups are supposed to know what’s going on and asking questions makes it feel like we don’t have it together.
If you want to know what’s really going on you have to listen deeply. Check your biases and assumptions at the door, and be fully present with another human being.
Get into their world. Feel what they feel. Be transformed by their perspective. Be moved by their story. Only when we fully give ourselves over to another person’s experiences can we learn what we need to solve their problems.
Freedom to Fail
Rarely do the most brilliant successes come from an epiphany striking like a lightning bolt. More often than not, they emerge from spectacular failures – those pursuits that were fought for and won through steady persistence, and honed through trial and error. In a company or organization, establishing a culture that is safe for people to explore, pursue, test, and fail is crucial for impactful growth. This is how we reach our most ambitious goals, we take risks and act boldly. Only then can we truly innovate. This, at times, can seem reckless, so there also must be systems in place to help people avoid making the same mistake twice – though each unique mistake and failure is a learning opportunity. It helps us experiment, understand, get feedback, build, and ultimately refine the best path forward.
Life itself is a process of trial and error… And those people who make no mistakes are those who make nothing.
–ALFRED P. SLOAN
Interview
Interviews are key to learning about someone’s specific experiences. Through stories and responses, you are able to better gain insight into the subject you are studying through the people most affected by the issue.