3-1 Generate Solution Ideas

Your team has researched and defined a specific problem to solve. Now your team needs to design a solution by brainstorming ideas.

Ideation – the process of forming ideas – is a fundamental part of design. Ideation involves both creative thinking and critical thinking.

The mistake that some designers make is to pick the first idea they think of, without really exploring all the possible design ideas.

That's why design ideation should really occur into two phases: 1. Getting the Right Design = producing many ideas to find the most promising design 2. Getting the Design Right = refining the selected design to make it as good as possible

In this assignment, your team will begin to "get the right design" by generating many possible ideas. In the next assignment, your team will evaluate those ideas to select the most promising design idea(s) and then "get the design right" by refining the idea(s).

Keep in mind that your solution must include both a smart device and a web app that interact with each other through the Internet. You will want to generate ideas for each of these parts of the solution.

Here is some advice for brainstorming ideas:

• First brainstorm as individuals, then share and brainstorm as a group

• Be as creative and diverse as possible in your thinking

• Don't criticize or reject any ideas yet

• It's okay to have ideas for only part of the solution

• Record ideas using simple sketches and descriptions

• Capture the essence of the idea, not the details

• Generate as many ideas as possible

Sketching is extremely helpful in ideation. Sketches are a quick way to record your ideas. Sketches also make it easier to explain your ideas to someone else. In fact, just creating a sketch can often lead you to think of even more ideas. Sketches do not need to be complex or realistic: stick figures can represent people, rectangles can represent device screens, arrows can represent movement or actions, etc. Adding a brief written description clarifies what the sketch represents.

EXAMPLE

Here are two different ideas for a solution to take student attendance. Each idea is only a partial solution (first idea is for a smart device, second idea is for a web app - but these two ideas do not necessarily go together). The essence of each idea is captured using a simple sketch and description. Of course, there are many other possible ideas that could be generated to solve this specific problem.

YOUR TASK

1. Be sure each team member understands the specific problem your team is trying to solve. If necessary, review your team's personas, journey map, value proposition, and design requirements. These help define who you are designing for, what problem you are solving, what benefits your solution should provide, and what criteria your solution should meet.

2. Each team member should individually brainstorm and record at least 5 different ideas using simple sketches and descriptions. It's okay if an idea focuses on just part of the solution (just the smart device, just the web app, etc.). Don't worry yet about whether you have the necessary technology or ability to build the idea.

3. Your team should share its ideas with each other, and brainstorm additional ideas as a group. Your team should have a combined total of at least 10 different ideas recorded. Remember that you are not rejecting any ideas yet.