BETTER IDEAS FASTER OVERVIEW

Identify your Turn those Brainstorm Connect

client’s actual problems using ideation existing ideas
problems into ideation questions and to discover
questions timeboxing better ones

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STRATEGY ARTICULATION IDEATION SYNTHESIS

Focus your efforts Don’t try to chop This combination Before you dive into
by being a strategic down a difficult design produces effective execution, see where
partner to your clients problem with one and actionable ideas. you can cluster, merge,
from Day One. This will swing of your mental Use timeboxing: short, and explode ideas to
help you make sure ax. Instead, chip apart structured sprints to find new ones. You’ll be
you’re solving the right the problem using achieve stated idea surprised at what new
problems by design. ideation questions. generation goals. ideas you’ll discover.

©2010 DAVID SHERWIN | DKSHERWIN@MSN.COM | CHANGEORDER.TYPEPAD.COM | @CHANGEORDER

BETTER IDEAS FASTER IDENTIFY THE ACTUAL PROBLEM
Suggest more appropriate ways for your clients to reach desired business outcomes. Get to
the root cause of why they’ve suggested a certain marketing strategy or design approach.
Client needs are often symptoms of a larger, more interesting business problem—one that
you’re probably best off defining before you start designing. Otherwise, you’re just throwing
ideas at the wrong target.

CLIENT NEED ASK TOUGH QUESTIONS PROVIDE FOCUS

Our client needs a new
logo and color palette
for their restaurant.
They want it to be blue
and red, maybe with
a flying fish.
“What are your goals for
this project?”
“What business conditions
caused these problems
to emerge?”
“What other strategies
did you consider before
choosing this course
Based on the answers to our
questions, we determine that the
rebranding exercise is a symptom
of sales dropping by 20% over
the past year. We could suggest
to our client that they…
• Retool their website
• Revise their online advertising

of action?”
“What other related
problems are also on
the horizon?”
“How does this upcoming
project fit into your brand
and/or marketing story?”
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• Create more compelling signage
• Improve their service and food
When you start brainstorming
design concepts, you should
be thinking outside the box,
but inside the strategy that
you determine here.

©2010 DAVID SHERWIN | DKSHERWIN@MSN.COM | CHANGEORDER.TYPEPAD.COM | @CHANGEORDER

BETTER IDEAS FASTER CREATE IDEATION QUESTIONS
Let’s start coming up with all sorts of amazing ideas! Wait—where do we even start?
First, jot down some ideation questions. They are restatements of issues that form the basis
of a design problem. Post-it Notes, Sharpies, and other simple tools help here, as you can
cluster and group your questions for when you start brainstorming.

THE PROBLEM IDEATION QUESTIONS FOCUSED DESIGN QUESTIONS

Our client needs to
increase sales at their
restaurant, Macrame,
by 20% this year.
We’ve agreed to create
a new brand system
for them, including a
new identity, an overhaul
of their website, and
“How can we increase sales
by 20% this year?”
“What is the essence
of the Macrame brand?”
“How can we better
differentiate Macrame from
their competition?”
“What kind of online
“What motifs could become a
design theme for the new brand?”
“What materials would best
express the brand in the
real world?”
“What types of interactivity
would express the brand on
the website?”

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new signage and menus experience would “What color schemes will
for their two locations. encourage patronage?” work?” (Blue? Red?)

They want it to be blue “What connections will

and red, maybe with people see between
a flying fish. the online experience and
real-world experience?”

©2010 DAVID SHERWIN | DKSHERWIN@MSN.COM | CHANGEORDER.TYPEPAD.COM | @CHANGEORDER

BETTER IDEAS FASTER USE TIMEBOXING
Timeboxing is the use of short, structured sprints to achieve stated idea generation goals.
When presented with a deadline, plan out a series of manageable steps that have tangible work
output, such as a set number of design ideas or sketches. Quantity is the name of the game, not
quality. Try to capture ideas in both words and pictures. Always set a goal that’s hard to reach.
Sketch each idea on a separate sheet of paper or Post-it Note.

STATE YOUR INTENT SET A TIME LIMIT SET A GOAL

“How can we increase sales 15 minutes At least 20 idea sketches

by 20% this year?”
“What is the essence 10 minutes At least 15 idea sketches
of the Macrame brand?”
“How can we better 15 minutes At least 15 idea sketches
differentiate Macrame from
their competition?”
“What kind of online 30 minutes At least 15 wireframes

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experience would or user flows
encourage patronage?”
“What connections will 15 minutes At least 10 idea
people see between sketches
the online experience and
real-world experience?”

©2010 DAVID SHERWIN | DKSHERWIN@MSN.COM | CHANGEORDER.TYPEPAD.COM | @CHANGEORDER

BETTER IDEAS FASTER BRAINSTORMING TECHNIQUES
If you find yourself getting stuck, throw a brainstorming technique in one of your timeboxes.
You’ll inevitably find yourself gravitating towards the techniques that seem to work best,
but it’s important to vary techniques every so often to stay fresh.

MIND-MAPPING WORD LISTING PICTURE ASSOCIATION BRUTETHINK

Allows you to identify a range of ideas
quickly in a free-form manner.
1. Place the key point of focus for
your brainstorm in the center of the
page or whiteboard.
2. Write words / terms related to the
focus in the empty space around the
center, radiating outward. If you run out
of concepts, write down slightly related
things, opposites, or unrelated thoughts.
3. Expand upon relationships in ideas
that emerge from the various nodes,
circling and grouping items as necessary.
4. Distill big ideas from the map.
An alternate method of mind-mapping.
1. On a sheet of paper, write a column
of words with as many concepts or
terms as possible related to your point
of focus for your design.
2. In a second column, pick an idea that
interests you from the first column and
expound upon it.
3. In the third column, write down words
that are the opposite of the material in
column 1.
4. Circle relationships that span columns
1 through 3. Distill into big ideas.
Mind-mapping without a verbal foundation.
1. Search the Internet for photographs
(Google, FFFFOUND, stock sites) that
feel related to the project at hand.
2. Arrange them in groups or clusters.
3. Write words around the clusters
that describe the essential messages
they convey.
4. From these groups, distill into
possible directions/design sketches.
From ThinkerToys, great when you’re stuck.
1. Come up with a seed word related to
the focus you’ve been provided—or an
old one that you couldn’t get to “activate.”
2. Write down the first thing that pops
into your mind, even if it’s random.
3. Hold both words in your mind or look
at them on a page. Find as many ways
to intuitively associate the idea and the
random word.

FREE-FORM SKETCHING ROLE PLAYING YES, AND… MAD LIBS

Draw pictures, words, and layout ideas
in an free-form, associative way. Then
step back, assess, and refocus. This often
works best with a number of people
sketching simultaneously, then sharing.
Act out how the client’s product/service
is being used in the real world. Let your
teammates observe, react, and question
what you’re doing in order to glean insight
from the experience.
In a group, go around the table and
continue to evolve an idea without
judgment. Simply say, “Yes, and,” then
add to it. One person records the ideas
as they grow and morph.
Create a simple Mad Lib that contains a
blank analogy. It could be phrased like
this: My client’s ________ is __________
like __________. Pass copies of it to your
colleagues and see what stories emerge.

©2010 DAVID SHERWIN | DKSHERWIN@MSN.COM | CHANGEORDER.TYPEPAD.COM | @CHANGEORDER

BETTER IDEAS FASTER CONNECTING IDEAS
The final and most critical step is to reflect on your ideas and see how they can be connected,
combined, and otherwise improved. Limit yourself to a set period of time to see how much
further you can push your ideas on paper before moving into formal execution. This is also
a good time to peel away the ideation questions and see how your ideas cross-pollinate and
point at big design themes.

CLUSTER IDEAS SCRAMBLE IDEAS EXPAND IDEAS

Let the sketches sit
overnight on a studio
wall. Then in the morning,
evaluate. Group sketches
together that speak to
each other. Provide a
name for the overall
idea contained by
those sketches.
Use the SCAMPER checklist:
• Substitute something
• Combine it with
something else
• Adapt something to it
• Modify or magnify it
• Put it to some other use
• Eliminate something
Focus on one tiny detail of
an idea and explode it.
Take a concept that’s on the
cutting-room floor, envision
its exact opposite in every
way, then redraw it.
Take only the words from
a key idea and draw a range

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of expressions of it.
• Reverse or rearrange it
Take a pile of paper
and redraw an idea
repeatedly.
TEST-DRIVE THESE TECHNIQUES
WITH CREATIVE WORKSHOP:
80 CHALLENGES TO SHARPEN
YOUR DESIGN SKILLS, A BOOK
BY DAVID SHERWIN. (NOV. 2010,
HOW DESIGN PRESS)

©2010 DAVID SHERWIN | DKSHERWIN@MSN.COM | CHANGEORDER.TYPEPAD.COM | @CHANGEORDER