Page 47 - The Design Thinking Playbook

The hunt for the next big market opportunity often follows these (2) Develop critical functionalities that are essential for the user
steps:
This step can be crucial for the solution. The facilitator has the task of motivating the groups so they identi-
(1) Initial ideas are worked out in a brainstorming session fy exactly these “important things” and prepare a ranking in the context of a critical user.

An initial brainstorming session about potential ideas and solutions Instruction: Give the group one to two hours—depending on the problem statement—to draft, build, and
helps the group to place all sorts of ideas and get them off their test 10 to 20 critical functions.
collective chest. Frequently, the levels of knowledge of the individual
team members in terms of the problem statement and a possible Ask the group to answer the following key questions:
solution spectrum are quite different. An initial brainstorming session • Which functionalities are mandatory?
helps in approaching the task and learning how the others in the • What experience is absolutely necessary for the user?
group think. • What is the relationship between the function
and the experience? Critical
Instruction: Give the group 20 minutes for a brainstorming session. functions
The issue here is quantity, not quality. Every idea is written on a Post- (3) Find benchmarks from other industries and experiences
it. When writing or sketching on the Post-it, the idea is expressed
aloud; afterward, the note is stuck to a pin board. This step is a very good tool when teams are not able to tear themselves away from an original solution
concept.
Ask the group to answer the following key questions: Benchmarking helps participants think outside the box and adapt ideas from these areas for the solution
• Which ideas come to mind spontaneously? of the problem. The facilitator broadens the creative framework by motivating the groups to hold the
• Which solution approaches are pursued by the others? brainstorming session, taking into account a certain industry/sector or a particular experience. You can
• What can we do differently? proceed in two steps, for instance: (a) brainstorming of ideas relating to the problem, and (b) brainstorming
• Do we all have the same understanding of the problem state- of industries and/or experiences. Subsequently, the three best ideas from each step are identified. Based
ment? on the combination of these, the facilitator invites the participants to develop two or three ideas further,
build them physically, and test them with the user.

Instruction: Give the group 30 minutes for a brainstorming session, 30 minutes for finding benchmarks,
and 30 minutes for clustering and combining ideas. Depending on the task, the group is given enough time
to build two to three prototypes.

Ask the group to answer the following key questions:
• Which successful concepts and experiences can be applied to the problem?
• Which experiences can illuminate the problem from another perspective?
Brainstorming • What is the relation between the problem and other experiences?

46 Benchmarking