One popular brainstorming method is “Post-Up” Ideation. Typically it is used to come up with solutions to complex problems but it can also be applied to come up with new market opportunities, new features, new customer problems to solve, or new product ideas. Where it shines efficiency at capturing the ideas of a whole team without devolving into a chaotic meeting.
You will need at least 4-colors of Post-It notes. Each one represents a different type of ‘vote’ or comment, for example:
- Dk Blue: Positive opinion (a vote to continue pursuit of idea)
- Lt. Blue: Assumptions, clarifications, or supplementary ideas
- Yellow: Facts about the idea
- Pink: A negative opinion (vote against pursuit of the idea)
Note, there are several online tools to run Post-Up Ideation in the Cloud as well.
Prior to the meeting you will want everyone involved to spend some time doing homework to come up with ideas they can present to the team. I have found the best way to present an idea is a brief 1-pager. These should be printed so they can be taped to the wall. Each person briefly presents their ideas one at a time. Each idea should take ~2 minutes, the goal is NOT to get into a discussion about clarifications, the merits, risks, etc of the idea. The rest of the team can actively start writing Post-Its while they listen, using a numbering system to keep track off which Post-Its go with each idea.
At this point the idea 1-pagers are posted around on the wall with plenty of room between them in what is called the “Problem Workspace.” The team gets up and starts putting Post-Its up with their thoughts on the problem. This might be ~20 minutes.
It will rapidly become apparent which ideas have the most positive votes. The most positive idea or two is moved to the “Idea Wall.” One by one, the team gets their Post-It from that idea’s workspace, reads them to the team, and moves them to the idea wall. During this process, the team will likely come up with more ideas and Post-its to add to the workspace.
Upon completion each down-selected idea should have dozen(s) of Post-Its pointing out the entire teams view of challenges, risks, benefits, clarifications, etc. Armed with this detail a Product Manager or Product Team is ready compile the results of the brainstorming and continue to refine the idea.
To learn more, visit: https://www.post-it.com/3M/en_US/post-it/ideas/articles/rapid-ideation/
Also, check out Rapid Problem Solving with Post-it Notes written by David Straker.