Aim
Brainstorming is a collective creative process in a criticism free environment to generate free exploration of ideas to find solutions for any problem statements.
Outline
This creative method can be carried out in a structured or unstructured or in groups or individually. The individual process could result in a more broader range of ideas, where a group can result in more effective and deeper solutions with interaction. However, the process is carried out the overall steps and ideas followed throughout are the same.
The process for this brainstorming session are:
1. Forming a group: It is important to form a group of not less than 4 and more than 20 people. Members from different backgrounds and disciplines could be more effective than from the same disciplines as a team can have more collective and diverse ideas for the specific problem. It would be easy if the team members have a little space and time to understand each other before moving into the process.
2. Explaining the process: The facilitator must explain how and why the process is carried out. The facilitator must set a right tone and need to be more interactive in conducting the process, else the session could easily become vain.
3. Specify the problem statement: Explain the main objective of the problem so that each member are clear to go without any confusion. This step in important to stay on the same road without deviating from the objective.
4. Gathering ideas: Each member is given a chance to discuss the ideas generated and must be eventually displayed on some common medium. All the ideas are encouraged even if those are silly or stupid ideas.
5. Sorting and prioritizing the ideas: All the recorded ideas are now sorted down and with mutual agreement and respect the ideas have to be prioritized to move further with the next stages of design research methodology.
Examples
1. A group activity task that was given in our master module.
Our group was assigned to the problem as :
"You have just moved into a new home. You have a budget to adjust the house to your needs. Go through your daily routines and think about the interfaces in your house. Wha would you add to make your life easier/more enjoyable.
Think both about existing types of interactions and about some that haven't been invented yet. What would you need or like to have ?"
We were a group of four members from different ethnicity, experience and culture and living styles. Our task began with the first stage of idea generation individually and recording in a paper in our interactive lab. Most of us came with different ideas like converting bedroom to smart room, temperature controllers purifiers and fresheners, exercising and fitness reminder, smart cookers for making cooking easier and a lot where new interaction can be invented.
Then came in the net stage of sorting out the ideas generated into categories like existing, to be invented and technical feasibility.
And out of all the existing categories as a group, we picked up an area of temperature controllers and purifying section where the new invention can be made. Then we began the stage 2 of the brainstorming process and came up with an idea of centralised home smart purifier named "Freshly".
The main features are:
Maintains air circulation throughout the house, Controls room temperature humidity based on outdoor conditions, Frequent air purification and freshening the air. A custom made purification system interacting with lighting systems based on individual need and also based on a theme.
For eg: If the person needs to have an atmosphere of nature, lights and music combined with the fragrance of purifier provides an ambience according to that.
The overall activity was around 30 to 45 mins for each team and we were asked to introduce our product at the end of the task.
It was a fun activity where the quick decision and creative process of generating ideas and group management were experienced. This is the first stage of the design process which could guide you to problem-solving.
2. An easy way for capturing the brainstorming methods!
The power of Brainstorming:
The storming ideas can be recorded in any suitable form, but the best form of representation is the mind mapping tree where all the ideas are represented orderly arranged. Over here the problem statement, broader idea and narrowed direction of broader ideas are represented in different colours. This is an easy and much pleasant way of representation which allows you to grasp the overall creative process to look simple.
Another way is the formal representation in tables as represented in the below image.
3. An example of Brainstorming for BioDesign, the process of innovating medical technologies:
Comments
Brainstorming process is a generative process which helps in the rapid development of problem-solving. This is an effective process which develops creativity and thinking capability of people to a large extent. This term of the methodology is a universal process that occurs in day to day life of all individuals without our knowledge. It is a team activity which improves productivity, interaction, involvement and knowledge sharing among people. With a proper formal understanding of this technique, this can be the start for generating problem-solving.
Application
This process can be implemented in a creative process where ideas need to be generated and also a kind of productive fun activity. This process can be used to produce rapid ideas for solving a certain problem. It can also be implemented where creative thinking and team interaction need to be generated.
Learning
This is an easy and much more interactive technique of sharing pieces of knowledge. It helps us in accepting ideas and opinions from other members and also develop ideas in case confused state. One doesn't need to a highly qualified expert to participate or perform this process if they have the simple decision making and creative process of thinking. Brainstorming is a kind of fun and interactive design process which can be exciting.
Time and cost
This technique is a cost-effective and time-saving technique which is easy to implement in the starting stage of research. Main tools required for performing the technique are markers, sketchpads, sticky notes and more recording devices. The overall process of brainstorming is carried out in a time limit of 30-60 minutes. The main requirement for this session is an environment-friendly spacious room where members can freely have some space for thinking if needed.
References
1. Brainstorming technique: Innovative QualityManagement Tool for Library Conference Paper Kalayan Nilappa Kumbhar on 06 June 2018.
2. 8-Step Brainstorming Process by Gilda Bonanno https://www.gildabonanno.com/8stepbrainstormingprocess
3. Seven Brainstorming Techniques For Your Next Ideation Session_Robert Tucker. https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertbtucker/2017/11/16/seven-brainstorming-techniques-for-your-next-ideation-session/#6449e3d86d5d
4. Brainstorm and Explore Topics: Brainstorming http://libraryguides.library.clark.edu/brainstorming