Brainstorming Examples

Brainstorming is a broad and diverse discipline where individuals come together to discuss ways that a business can grow, improve, innovate, problem-solve and make better decisions. 

Brainstorming tends to be less common in companies with a hierarchical structure where top-down decisions are the norm.

In more collaborative companies where employees have more autonomy, however, various brainstorming methods are utilized to deliver better outcomes.

In this article, we’ll discuss one hypothetical and one real-world example of brainstorming at work.

The marketing team for a meditation app

In the first example, consider a hypothetical remote marketing team that wants to find ways to encourage consumers to purchase the paid version of a meditation app.

The session facilitator starts by selecting an online remote brainstorming tool such as Miro, which allows the team to generate ideas in real-time using diagrams and sticky notes.

Before the meeting, the facilitator also asks each team member to review the problem in their own time so that they come prepared.

The initial brainstorming session contains six people including the leader: a product marketing manager, a product manager, a UX designer, a content producer, and a demand generation manager.

This assortment of roles is an ideal cross-functional mix and ensures that ideas come from a range of backgrounds and expertise.

The session then progresses as follows:

Present the problem

In other words, how can the business encourage consumers to use the paid version of the meditation app?

Five-minute review

Then, the facilitator allows the team to record their thoughts on the problem for 5 minutes.

Word association game

A further 10 minutes is spent on a word association game to help the creative juices start to flow.

Words can either be spoken or written down and in this scenario may include “streamlined”, “ad-free”, “relaxation”, “undistracted”, “functionality”, and “rewards”.

Vote on ideas

After the time has elapsed, the facilitator asks the five participants to vote on their favorite words.

Brainstorm

For 20 additional minutes, the most popular words from step four form the basis of creative solutions to the problem from step one.

No idea must be considered impractical or unrealistic. 

List creative ideas

Using mind maps, sketches, sticky notes, or a combination thereof, the team generates a list of potential solutions.

For the sake of brevity, some of the ideas may include offering freemium features for a limited time, utilizing referral or reward programs, and charging consumers to remove the intrusive advertising from the free version.

Conclude

In the final step, the facilitator ends the brainstorming session and schedules a meeting where the team will vote on the idea(s) with the most potential.

Case Study: National Gallery of Art

Museum staff at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., wanted to formulate strategies that delivered a better experience for visitors.

Staff realized that many visitors did not feel comfortable or confident interacting with the art on display because, in their own words, they “were not art people.”

To solve this problem, the museum held a brainstorming session where participants drew possible solutions on a piece of paper for 8 minutes.

After the time had elapsed, each presented their solutions to the group.

Another session of equal duration followed as solutions were further refined based on input from other participants.

One solution that had merit involved requiring users to attend a lecture on the museum and its collection beforehand.

However, the team wondered if the idea was too prescriptive. In other words, what would happen if a visitor did not want to attend the lecture?

It was also noted that this idea would be expensive to maintain since staff would need to be employed to deliver the lectures each day.

From this failed attempt came another solution to show shorter, on-demand videos that museum visitors did not have to watch if they weren’t interested.

The videos, which would be shown in the museum’s atrium, would allow visitors to develop the skills to interact confidently with art.

After the team agreed it was the correct solution, it was implemented in the gallery to great success.

Case Study: Google

In 2016, Google employee and head of global content strategy Veronique Lafargue wrote an article titled How To Brainstorm Like A Googler.

In her introduction, Lafargue noted that the company had no secret innovation formula. Instead, it had developed a way to systematically coax ideas into existence and then steadily improve them.

Google’s brainstorming approach can easily be distilled into three core principles. These principles, which Lafargue noted any company could adopt, comprise a linear process for turning an idea into an actual product.

Principle 1 – Get to know the user

To solve a major problem or address a customer need, Google maintains a focus on the user. Employees collect stories, emotions, and ideas from users in the field.

They are also comfortable with silence and have a preference to observe and empathize to better relate to user needs.

Lafargue used the example of a trip where she visited Google’s customers in India, Brazil, and Canada.

Via observation and active listening, she learned that the apparently generic term “mobility” was interpreted in different ways based on one’s location. 

In India where connectivity was a concern, an important aspect of mobility was the ability to work offline. In Canada, the term was more literal and described collaboration from one’s desk, kitchen table, or favorite coffee shop.

In Brazil, where traffic lengthens commute times, mobility was most associated with voice control and an effective interface.

The key takeaway from the first principle is that Google made the effort to find out what it needed to know about users.

Principle 2 – Think 10x

Think 10x is rather common in business today but no less effective. In essence, it involves aiming to improve something by a factor of 10 as opposed to 10%.

Lafargue uses another example to illustrate the point. In Project Loon, Google wondered whether a balloon network could provide abundant, affordable internet to not only the next billion people but also the last, most impoverished billion people.

The incremental 10% idea would have been to build additional fiber infrastructure.

The 10x idea, on the other hand, involved launching balloons into the stratosphere where, for months on end, they would need to endure 100 km/hr winds and temperatures as low as -90 degrees Celsius.

Not only would these balloons need to survive, but they would also have to provide reliable and affordable internet to those in the most remote and underserved areas of the world.

The 10x ideation process

In a brainstorming session, users jot down ideas in private before assembling as a group and deciding which should be pursued. Google then follows this process:

1. Build on ideas – employees resist the urge to kill ideas early on. Instead, ideas should be followed with “Yes, and” rather than ”No, but”. 
2. Ideate, ideate, ideate – Lafargue noted that “the best way to have a great idea is to have many ideas.” Quantity is more important than quality in step two.
3. Write headlines – to clarify ideas, they must be described in less than six words. Employees imagine the headline an idea would receive in a magazine or newspaper.
4. Illustrate – pictures speak a thousand words.
5. Think big – the core component of the 10x approach that invites bold, intrepid ideas. 
6. Defer judgment – Google teams also respect point number one at all times. Ideas should be built upon to ideate and never judged while brainstorming is in progress.

Principle 3 – Prototype

Many brainstorming sessions end with the team committing to meet later and follow up ideas with promise. At Google, however, teams like to strike while the proverbial iron is hot when the idea is still fresh in everyone’s mind.

The company does this by building a quick prototype almost immediately. The prototypes are not perfect, but they do enable Google teams to answer the most pressing questions and test first assumptions.

When employees can hold the idea in their hands, much more can be learned about their viability.

LEGO

In the late 1990s, LEGO was in crisis as the popularity of digital toys and games threatened to push it out of the market. To save the company from the brink of disaster, LEGO’s management team initiated a series of brainstorming sessions to find a way to stay relevant.

During one session, a group of employees started building models with the company’s iconic bricks while discussing business ideas. They found that the physical act of building and playing with LEGO bricks helped fuel their creativity and generate new ideas.

This led to the development of the LEGO Serious Play (LSP) methodology – a framework that utilizes LEGO bricks as a tool for problem-solving and ideation in business contexts. To foster collaboration and unlock creative ideation, the framework invites participants to build models of their ideas and share them with others.

While LEGO Serious Play was the result of a company trying to save itself from bankruptcy, the method has now been used by hundreds of other companies for various purposes. In the context of brainstorming, LSP is best suited to situations with no obvious solutions and no correct or incorrect answers. It is also useful as a way to break the ice in new teams or enable older teams to be creative if faced with obstacles.

Below is a case study of how the technique was used in practice. 

Joomla

Joomla is the second most popular content management system (CMS) in the world and is installed on an estimated 2.5 million websites. To celebrate its tenth anniversary in 2015, Joomla held a conference where 260 participants brainstormed various roles that the CMS would play in the future.

The participant cohort – which consisted of testers, developers, and activists – were each handed one of LEGO’s Window Exploration Bags (a small bag of bricks and other accessories for short brainstorming sessions) plus a pen and A4 sheet of paper. Teams of 5 or 6 were assembled with individuals in each team unfamiliar to each other.

As an ice breaker, individuals were told to construct a dog with just four bricks and share their creations with others. Another icebreaker involved people constructing a mini-figure of themselves before making a formal introduction to the group.

Focus of the brainstorming sessions

To start the ideation process itself, each individual assembled 5 bricks at random and then had to explain in 30 seconds what their construction meant. Various metaphors were picked from the descriptions which were later used to encourage discussion about future scenarios that could impact Joomla.

Individuals were then asked the more direct question: “Where will the Joomla community be in 10 years from now?” To answer this question, each had 30 minutes to build something and write down 1 to 3 important keywords that best described their understanding of the future.

Before a final reflection of 10 minutes, users were asked to clarify three actions that would make their vision a reality. Each person was encouraged to generate actions that were both concrete and realistic.

Ideation focused on three core challenges that Joomla had identified:

1. Disruptive innovation – how could Joomla remain competitive in the future and prepare itself for different scenarios? Some of the most productive ideas centered around how the Joomla CMS could build new interfaces with other solutions.
2. Work/life balance – Joomla is an open-source project that relies on the contributions of volunteers who must also balance other life and business priorities. Teams identified various ideas that could keep contributors committed to the cause.
3. New opportunities – while Joomla is relatively popular in the United States and Western Europe, it was acknowledged that new expansion opportunities existed in emerging markets. In response, Joomla developer Open Source Matters decided to hold one annual conference in India and another in Mexico.

Key takeaways

• Brainstorming is a broad and diverse discipline where individuals come together to discuss ways that a business can grow, improve, innovate, problem-solve or make better decisions.
• In the first example, a marketing team wants to brainstorm ideas to encourage users to use a paid version of a meditation app. The team consisted of six people in six different roles to create an ideal cross-functional mix.
• In the second real-world example, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., used brainstorming to solve the problem of museum visitors feeling out of their depth when viewing art. Short, on-demand videos that allowed visitors to increase their understanding proved to be the most viable solution.

Key Highlights

• Brainstorming Definition: Brainstorming is a broad and diverse discipline where individuals come together to discuss ways that a business can grow, improve, innovate, problem-solve, and make better decisions.
• Hierarchy Impact on Brainstorming: Brainstorming tends to be less common in companies with a hierarchical structure where top-down decisions are the norm. In more collaborative companies where employees have more autonomy, various brainstorming methods are utilized to deliver better outcomes.
• Hypothetical Example: Marketing Team for a Meditation App: A remote marketing team wants to encourage consumers to purchase the paid version of a meditation app. They use an online remote brainstorming tool, involve a diverse cross-functional mix of team members, and follow a structured process to generate ideas.
• Real-World Example: National Gallery of Art: The museum staff wanted to improve the visitor experience for those who felt uncomfortable interacting with the art on display. They held a brainstorming session, tested different solutions, and eventually implemented an on-demand video approach in the museum’s atrium.
• Real-World Example: Google’s Brainstorming Approach: Google’s brainstorming approach involves three core principles: getting to know the user by collecting stories and empathizing, thinking 10x by aiming for significant improvements, and prototyping quickly to test ideas.
• LEGO Serious Play (LSP) Methodology: LEGO Serious Play is a brainstorming framework that uses LEGO bricks as a tool for problem-solving and ideation in business contexts. It fosters collaboration and creativity, particularly in situations with no obvious solutions.
• Case Study: Joomla’s Brainstorming Conference: Joomla used LEGO bricks as an icebreaker and ideation tool during a conference to brainstorm future scenarios and challenges. The brainstorming focused on disruptive innovation, work/life balance for volunteers, and new expansion opportunities.
• Key Takeaways: Brainstorming is a versatile approach used to solve various business challenges, and it can be tailored to the specific needs and structure of a company or project. It involves creating a supportive environment where participants can freely share ideas and explore innovative solutions.

Additional Brainstorming Techniques

Brainstorming Technique	Description	Key Elements	When to Use	Advantages	Drawbacks
1. Traditional Brainstorming	Gather a group of people to freely share ideas, encouraging quantity over quality initially.	Group dynamics, open discussion	Idea generation, problem-solving	Encourages diverse input, fosters creativity and collaboration, easy to implement.	May lead to dominant voices, groupthink, limited critical evaluation of ideas.
2. Mind Mapping	Create visual diagrams to explore interconnected ideas and concepts, helping to identify relationships and potential solutions.	Visual representation, branching	Idea exploration, planning, organization	Visualizes complex ideas, encourages nonlinear thinking, uncovers hidden connections.	Can become overly complex, may require training, limits initial idea generation.
3. SWOT Analysis	Evaluate Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats to assess a situation and generate ideas for improvement.	SWOT framework, analysis	Strategic planning, decision-making	Systematic assessment of internal and external factors, guides strategy development.	Can be overly structured, may miss nuanced factors, tends to focus on weaknesses and threats.
4. Brainwriting	Participants write down ideas individually before sharing them with the group, reducing potential bias and allowing for diverse input.	Individual idea generation	Reducing bias, promoting anonymity	Minimizes group pressure, encourages quieter participants, fosters equal participation.	Limited group interaction, potential duplication of ideas, less real-time discussion.
5. Rolestorming	Assume different roles or personas to view a problem from various perspectives, encouraging innovative thinking.	Role-playing, empathy	Creative problem-solving, ideation	Enhances empathy and understanding, generates fresh viewpoints and solutions.	Requires participants to step out of their comfort zones, can be challenging for some.
6. SCAMPER	Use a structured approach to brainstorming by asking questions related to Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate, and Reverse to spark creative ideas.	SCAMPER framework, questioning	Idea refinement, product development	Promotes systematic idea generation, encourages thinking from multiple angles.	May not be suitable for initial idea generation, can be time-consuming.
7. Round Robin Brainstorming	Go around the group in a circle, with each participant sharing one idea at a time, allowing for equal participation and variety in suggestions.	Sequential idea sharing	Equal participation, idea diversity	Ensures everyone’s input is heard, prevents dominance, provides structure.	Can be time-consuming, less spontaneous than other methods.
8. 6-3-5 Brainwriting	Six participants write three ideas in five minutes, then pass their sheets to the next person who builds upon the ideas generated by others.	Structured idea generation	Idea expansion, collaborative brainstorming	Rapid idea generation, builds on the creativity of others, efficient use of time.	Limited time for individual idea development, potential for rushed ideas.
9. Starbursting	Focus on asking questions about a topic rather than providing answers, prompting deep exploration of various aspects and generating innovative solutions.	Questioning, curiosity	Idea generation, problem exploration	Encourages critical thinking, uncovers hidden assumptions, explores multiple facets.	May lack immediate solutions, can become unfocused, requires skilled facilitation.
10. Reverse Brainstorming	Identify potential problems or obstacles related to a challenge, and then brainstorm solutions to address those issues, which can lead to innovative ideas.	Problem identification, solution	Problem-solving, idea generation	Shifts focus from problems to solutions, promotes constructive thinking.	May not be suitable for all situations, initial negativity may discourage creativity.
11. Random Word or Image Association	Use random words, images, or objects to trigger associations and generate creative ideas by connecting unrelated concepts.	Random stimulus, association	Idea generation, creativity enhancement	Sparks unexpected connections, breaks mental patterns, promotes out-of-the-box thinking.	Relies on chance, may not always yield relevant ideas, requires adaptability.
12. Brainwriting Pool	Participants contribute ideas on sticky notes and place them in a central pool, allowing for anonymous sharing and diverse input.	Anonymity, diversity	Idea generation, reducing bias	Fosters equal participation, promotes anonymity, encourages a wide range of ideas.	Limited group interaction and discussion, potential for chaos if not well-organized.
13. SCAMPER Variations (e.g., SCAMPER Plus)	Modify and expand the SCAMPER technique by adding extra steps or variations to further stimulate creative thinking and idea generation.	Customized SCAMPER framework	Idea refinement, product development	Adaptable to specific challenges, encourages deeper exploration, versatility.	Complexity may vary based on the chosen variations, may require additional guidance.
14. Attribute Listing	List the attributes or characteristics of a problem or product and then brainstorm ideas to change, enhance, or modify each attribute.	Attribute analysis, modification	Problem-solving, product innovation	Systematic examination of product aspects, prompts incremental improvements.	May not lead to breakthrough innovations, may overlook holistic solutions.
15. Storyboarding	Create visual storyboards or narratives to explore potential scenarios, user experiences, and solutions to complex challenges.	Visual storytelling, scenario	User experience design, product development	Visualizes user journeys, identifies pain points, and fosters empathy for end-users.	Requires artistic or design skills, may not suit all types of problems or projects.
16. Worst-Case Scenario Analysis	Imagine the worst possible outcomes or scenarios related to a problem, and then brainstorm ways to prevent or mitigate those situations.	Scenario analysis, risk	Risk management, contingency planning	Identifies potential vulnerabilities, enhances preparedness, and promotes proactive problem-solving.	Can be pessimistic and fear-inducing, may not address all aspects of a challenge.
17. Analogous Thinking	Draw inspiration from unrelated fields, industries, or domains to find solutions or ideas that can be applied to the current challenge.	Cross-industry insights, analogy	Innovation, idea generation, creativity enhancement	Offers fresh perspectives, fosters cross-disciplinary creativity, and encourages unique solutions.	Requires diverse knowledge, may require time to establish relevant analogies.
18. Random Selection	Randomly select a problem or topic from a list and brainstorm ideas related to it, which can encourage unexpected and creative solutions.	Random selection, unpredictability	Idea generation, creativity enhancement	Promotes serendipity, disrupts conventional thinking, and stimulates novelty.	Lack of direct relevance to current challenges, may not always yield actionable ideas.
19. Nominal Group Technique	Participants individually generate ideas in writing, discuss them as a group, and then rank or prioritize the most promising suggestions.	Individual idea generation, ranking	Idea generation, decision-making	Ensures equal participation, combines individual and group input, structured approach.	Can be time-consuming, may lead to compromises in the ranking process.
20. Concept Fan	Start with a central idea or concept and branch out to explore related ideas, generating a fan-like structure of interconnected concepts and possibilities.	Concept expansion, exploration	Idea generation, concept development	Helps expand on a central idea, uncovers new dimensions, and fosters comprehensive exploration.	Requires a clear central concept, may require iteration to develop fully.

Technique	Description	When to Apply
Mind Mapping	Visualizes ideas and their relationships.	When exploring connections between ideas.
Brainwriting	Silent brainstorming where participants write down ideas.	When you want to encourage individual input without group influence.
SCAMPER	Modifies existing ideas through Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate, Reverse.	When you need structured creativity to improve or change an idea.
Round-Robin Brainstorming	Participants take turns contributing ideas.	When ensuring equal participation in idea generation.
Affinity Diagrams	Groups ideas into categories for analysis.	When organizing a large number of ideas into meaningful categories.
SWOT Analysis	Identifies strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.	When assessing strategic position and opportunities.
Fishbone Diagram (Ishikawa)	Identifies root causes of problems.	When solving complex problems by tracing causes.
Six Thinking Hats	Examines ideas from multiple perspectives.	When needing a comprehensive evaluation of an idea.
Brainstorming Sessions	Group activity to generate ideas.	When needing to generate a wide range of ideas quickly.
Rapid Ideation	Generates ideas quickly under time constraints.	When time is limited and you need a burst of creativity.
Idea Board	Visual display of ideas for collaboration.	When needing a central place to gather and refine ideas.
Random Word Association	Uses random words to trigger new ideas.	When stuck in conventional thinking patterns.
Brainstorming Web	Connects related ideas visually.	When exploring the relationships between different ideas.
Reverse Brainstorming	Focuses on how to cause a problem instead of solving it.	When needing to identify potential pitfalls or weaknesses in an idea.
Gap Analysis	Identifies gaps between current and desired states.	When assessing the current situation against goals.
Wishing Technique	Participants wish for ideal outcomes.	When looking for aspirational and innovative ideas.
Concept Fan	Expands on an initial idea to generate more ideas.	When needing to deepen or broaden an initial concept.
Question Storming	Generates questions to uncover new ideas.	When needing to explore a problem deeply through questioning.
Starbursting	Explores an idea through questions starting with Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How.	When needing a thorough examination of an idea from all angles.
Trigger Method	Uses triggers to spark new ideas.	When needing external stimuli to generate ideas.
Lotus Blossom Technique	Expands on core ideas by surrounding them with related ideas.	When needing to develop a central idea in detail.
Idea Box (Morphological Analysis)	Combines different parameters to generate ideas.	When needing to explore all possible combinations of factors.
Crawford’s Slip Writing	Participants write down ideas anonymously.	When needing to gather uninfluenced and honest ideas from participants.
Nominal Group Technique	Structured method for group brainstorming.	When requiring structured and equal participation from all group members.
Disney Creative Strategy	Uses three roles: Dreamer, Realist, and Critic.	When needing to refine ideas by looking at them from different perspectives.
BRAIN	Blueprint, Random connections, Assimilate, Integrate, New thinking.	When needing a structured approach to creative problem-solving.
Attribute Listing	Lists attributes of a problem and explores variations.	When needing to dissect and innovate on a specific aspect of a problem.
Analogies and Metaphors	Uses analogies to generate new ideas.	When needing to think about problems in a new and unfamiliar way.
Collaborative Brainwriting	Participants build on each other’s ideas in writing.	When encouraging collaborative idea development without verbal discussion.
Dot Voting	Participants vote on the best ideas using dots.	When needing to prioritize ideas quickly and democratically.
Forced Connections	Combines unrelated concepts to generate new ideas.	When needing to break free from conventional thinking patterns.
Negative Brainstorming	Focuses on what not to do.	When needing to identify risks and potential pitfalls.
Freewriting	Writes continuously to generate ideas.	When needing to bypass internal filters and generate raw ideas.
Crowdsourcing	Collects ideas from a large group of people.	When needing a wide range of ideas from a diverse group.
Idea Lottery	Randomly selects and combines ideas.	When needing to combine elements in unexpected ways to generate new ideas.
Whiteboarding	Uses a whiteboard to visualize and connect ideas.	When needing a collaborative space for group idea generation.
Bodystorming	Acts out scenarios to generate ideas.	When needing to physically engage with a problem to generate ideas.
Role Storming	Participants assume different roles to generate ideas.	When needing to see a problem from various perspectives.
Group Passing Technique	Each participant adds to the previous idea.	When needing collaborative idea building with a structured process.
Storyboarding	Visualizes ideas in a sequential format.	When needing to communicate and develop ideas through a narrative.
Mind Scripting	Writes scripts to explore different scenarios.	When needing to explore and develop ideas through detailed scenarios.
Idea Ranking	Ranks ideas based on criteria.	When needing to prioritize ideas based on their potential impact and feasibility.
Circle of Opportunity	Uses a circular diagram to explore ideas.	When needing to visualize and connect various opportunities.
Problem Reversal	Reverses the problem to find new solutions.	When needing to think about a problem from a completely different angle.
Word Storming	Focuses on key words to generate ideas.	When needing to generate ideas centered around specific terms or concepts.
Concept Mapping	Visualizes relationships between concepts.	When needing to explore and understand the connections between various ideas.
Hexagonal Thinking	Uses hexagons to connect ideas.	When needing to visually and spatially organize and connect ideas.
Idea Speed Dating	Pairs participants to rapidly exchange ideas.	When needing quick and varied input from multiple participants.
Empathy Mapping	Uses empathy to understand user needs and generate ideas.	When needing to generate ideas that are deeply rooted in user needs and perspectives.
Visioning	Imagines future scenarios to generate ideas.	When needing to think long-term and generate aspirational ideas.
Divergent Thinking	Generates many different ideas.	When needing a broad range of ideas and solutions.
Convergent Thinking	Narrows down ideas to the best ones.	When needing to refine and select the best ideas from a large pool.
User Stories	Creates user scenarios to generate ideas.	When needing to develop ideas based on specific user needs and experiences.
Customer Journey Mapping	Visualizes customer experiences to find opportunities.	When needing to identify pain points and opportunities within the customer journey.
Action Priority Matrix	Prioritizes ideas based on impact and effort.	When needing to focus on the most impactful and feasible ideas.
Thought Experiment	Explores ideas through hypothetical scenarios.	When needing to test and explore ideas in a safe, theoretical context.
Pre-Mortem Analysis	Anticipates potential failures to improve ideas.	When needing to identify and address potential risks before implementation.
Brain-netting	Conducts brainstorming sessions online.	When needing to collaborate and generate ideas remotely.
Painstorming	Focuses on pain points to generate ideas.	When needing to address and solve specific problems or challenges.
Idea Splicing	Combines parts of different ideas to create new ones.	When needing to innovate by merging existing concepts.
Socratic Questioning	Uses deep questioning to generate ideas.	When needing to explore ideas through rigorous and thoughtful questioning.
Five Whys	Asks “why” five times to get to the root cause of a problem.	When needing to uncover the underlying causes of a problem.
Innovation Tournament	Competes to generate the best ideas.	When needing a competitive element to drive idea generation and refinement.
SWOT Brainstorming	Combines SWOT analysis with brainstorming.	When needing to assess and generate ideas based on internal and external factors.
Idea Matrix	Organizes ideas into a matrix for evaluation.	When needing to systematically evaluate and compare ideas.
Brainwriting Pool	Collects written ideas in a pool for group discussion.	When needing to gather and pool ideas for collective evaluation and discussion.
Innovation Sprint	Short, focused sessions to generate ideas.	When needing rapid and intense idea generation and development.
Role Play Brainstorming	Uses role play to generate ideas.	When needing to understand and generate ideas from different perspectives.
Chunking	Breaks down problems into smaller parts to generate ideas.	When needing to manage and solve complex problems by addressing smaller components.
Opportunity Mind Map	Maps opportunities visually.	When needing to visualize and explore various opportunities.
Sailboat Retrospective	Uses a sailboat metaphor to reflect and generate ideas.	When needing a creative and engaging way to reflect on progress and generate new ideas.
Idea Journaling	Keeps a journal to capture and develop ideas.	When needing to continuously capture and refine ideas over time.
Affinity Mapping	Groups similar ideas together.	When needing to organize and make sense of a large number of ideas.
Futurism	Envisions future possibilities to generate ideas.	When needing to think ahead and generate ideas based on future trends and scenarios.
Customer Feedback Analysis	Uses customer feedback to generate ideas.	When needing to generate ideas based on actual customer insights and experiences.
Business Model Canvas	Maps business components to find opportunities.	When needing to explore and innovate on business models.
Lean Canvas	Simplifies the business model canvas for rapid idea generation.	When needing a quick and efficient way to develop and test business ideas.
Problem Framing	Reframes problems to generate new ideas.	When needing to see problems in a new light to find innovative solutions.
Lightning Decision Jam	Rapidly generates and decides on ideas.	When needing quick and actionable ideas with immediate decision-making.
Ethnographic Research	Observes users to generate ideas.	When needing deep and contextual insights into user behavior and needs.
Idea Tournament	Competes to refine and select the best ideas.	When needing a structured competition to drive innovation and idea selection.
SWOT Workshop	Conducts workshops combining SWOT and brainstorming.	When needing to integrate strategic analysis with creative idea generation.
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA)	Analyzes failures to generate improvement ideas.	When needing to proactively identify and mitigate potential failures.
Analogical Thinking	Uses analogies to generate ideas.	When needing to leverage similarities between different concepts to generate new ideas.
Interactive Brainstorming	Uses interactive tools to facilitate brainstorming.	When needing dynamic and engaging methods to generate ideas.
Stakeholder Brainstorming	Engages stakeholders in idea generation.	When needing input and buy-in from various stakeholders.
Idea Parking Lot	Keeps a list of ideas for future consideration.	When needing to capture and save ideas that cannot be addressed immediately.
Strategic Brainstorming	Focuses brainstorming on strategic goals.	When needing to align idea generation with long-term strategic objectives.
Productive Thinking Model	Uses structured thinking to generate ideas.	When needing a systematic approach to creative problem-solving.
Opportunity Canvas	Focuses on opportunities within the business model.	When needing to identify and develop new business opportunities.
Conceptual Blockbusting	Overcomes mental blocks to generate ideas.	When needing to break through creative barriers and generate fresh ideas.
Hybrid Brainstorming	Combines different brainstorming techniques.	When needing to leverage multiple methods for diverse idea generation.
Challenge Mapping	Maps challenges to find solutions.	When needing to understand and address specific challenges in detail.
Design Charrette	Intensive planning session to generate ideas.	When needing a focused and collaborative effort to solve a design problem.
Braintrust Sessions	Uses a trusted group to generate and refine ideas.	When needing expert input and collaboration for idea refinement.
Value Proposition Canvas	Develops value propositions through brainstorming.	When needing to create and refine value propositions for products or services.
Innovation Jam	Intensive, collaborative brainstorming sessions.	When needing a concentrated burst of creativity and idea generation.
Delphi Method	Uses expert consensus to generate ideas.	When needing to leverage expert knowledge and consensus for idea generation.
Creative Problem Solving (CPS)	Structured process for generating ideas.	When needing a step-by-step approach to solve complex problems creatively.
World Café	Facilitates large group brainstorming through roundtable discussions.	When needing to engage a large group in collaborative idea generation.

Visual Brainstorming Frameworks

Starbusting

Appreciative Inquiry

Round-robin Brainstorming

Constructive Controversy

Affinity Grouping

The Fishbone Diagram

Rolestorming

Reverse Brainstorming

Lotus Diagram

Futures Wheel

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