HUMAN CENTERED DESIGN | IDEATION

What If

20 Min

What If is a tool that helps teams come up with new ideas by exploring some basic formats. In a sense, the tool is a solution oriented version of the POEMS tool that is used for observation of a current ecosystem.

USE CASES

Identify ideas that cover a healthy range of possibilities.
Make ideation a focused yet enjoyable exercise.

LIMITATIONS

What If is useful as a tool to kick start ideation, but it allows for only limited kinds of ideas to emerge. Teams should ideally follow up with other tools that ensure they are covering multiple directions.

UNDERSTANDING THE TOOL

‘Physical Object or a Thing’ is where ideas that take the form of a physical object or product or space, are to be parked.
‘Service or Process’ is to note down solutions that take the form of services or systems which users can interact with.
‘A Person or a Set of People’ is to capture solutions that may depend on the introduction of new people, or having currently available people do things differently.
‘A Digital Interaction’ is to capture ideas in which the solution takes the form of a website or application that the user interacts with.
‘A Piece of Communication’ is to make note of any messaging or communication that forms part of the solution.

STEP BY STEP

Note the challenge: Make a note of the final design challenge to focus on. Keep personas and insights handy.
Brainstorm: Think of as many ideas as possible, individually and as a group. Write ideas down on sticky notes and park them in relevant columns.
Choose ideas: Discuss ideas that seem frequent, unique, and relevant. Choose ideas to take into prioritisation.

HOW TO FOR FACILITATORS

At the start: Make sure participants understand the flow of the activity and the direction. Refer to facilitation questions if they are feeling stuck.
During the exercise: Get the participants to think through each type of solution. Encourage brainstorming that is bold, practical and playful.
At the close: Have participants take you through their ideas, and discuss any interesting patterns that may be emerging.

FACILITATORS QUESTION BANK

Can you think of at least one solution under each of the different categories?
Do you want to start individually first, and then discuss as a group?
Are there any other forms that you can think of that aren't listed in the template?
Is there anything interesting you can take away from these ideas? Are there any patterns emerging?
Are there ideas that are a combination of two or more forms?

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