W2D2: Ideation

I heard some people worrying that they aren’t creative enough to be designers. I want to challenge that idea:

We’ll practice coming up with ideas for designs today. We’ll try a twist on a classic brainstorming method, called brainwriting1.

Glossary
  • Brainstorming: A group creativity technique that generates a large number of ideas in a short amount of time.
  • Brainwriting: A twist on brainstorming where ideas are written down instead of spoken aloud.
  • Affinity diagram: A method for organizing ideas into groups based on their similarity.
  • Essential tasks: The core things that people need to do to accomplish a goal.
  • Concrete tasks: Specific actions that people take to accomplish a goal.
  • Wild ideas: Ideas that are unconventional or unexpected.

There are many processes for doing creative work; see the Ideation and “d.school Bootleg” readings from this week on Perusall. We’ll keep it simple today.

Instructions

We’ll be building on the activity of last time where we identified essential tasks for managing a schedule. We’re now going to use brainwriting to come up with as many ideas as we can for how a digital tool could help them accomplish those tasks. Then we’ll make an affinity diagram to group similar ideas together.

Our Task

How might we (re)design a digital tool help someone manage their schedule?

Phase 1: Brainwriting

  1. Team up with 3-4 people, ideally different people than last time.
  2. Each person takes a piece of paper and a stack of sticky notes.
  3. Write down three ideas for how a digital tool could help someone manage their schedule. Write one idea on each sticky note.
  4. Stick your sticky notes to the paper.
  5. Pass your paper to the person on your right.
  6. Read the ideas on the paper you received, and build on them. Write down three more ideas on sticky notes, and stick them to the paper.
  7. Repeat steps 5-6 until you get your original paper back.

Suggestions for generating ideas:

  • Focus on essential tasks.
    • What are the core things that people needed to do to manage their schedule?
    • What might be some ways they could accomplish those tasks that are different from the concrete tasks they were previously using? Wild ideas are welcome!
  • Express your ideas visually (diagrams, sketches, etc.), not just words
  • Don’t evaluate ideas as they come up. Just get them all out there.
  • Build on each other’s ideas. Combine ideas, refine them, etc. – but make sure that each sticky note makes sense on its own.
  • Quantity over quality. We’re looking for a lot of ideas, not just a few good ones.

Phase 2: Affinity Diagram

Put the sticky notes up on the whiteboard or the wall. Arrange them into groups of similar ideas. Try to identify themes that group the ideas together.

Here is Claude’s summary of the tasks listed from last time.

Schedule Management:

  • Use digital tools like built-in calendar apps, Google Calendar, or Outlook
  • Maintain a physical calendar or planner
  • Set up and edit event details (times, titles, descriptions)
  • Manage repeating schedules
  • Distinguish between different types of events (e.g., classes, work, social)

Task Tracking:

  • Create to-do lists (using apps like Apple Reminders or Notes)
  • Set short-term goals for daily accomplishments
  • Use digital tools like Notion for task management
  • Write down tasks and events to remember them better

Time Allocation:

  • Prioritize schoolwork
  • Allocate specific time for homework (e.g., 2-3 hours)
  • Set aside relaxation time (e.g., 1.5 hours after school)
  • Balance life, school, work, and social activities

Preparation and Planning:

  • Review schedule the night before
  • Prepare materials in advance
  • Check course management systems (e.g., Workday, Moodle) before class

Reminders and Alerts:

  • Set alarms for waking up
  • Use reminder apps for upcoming tasks
  • Set up notifications for important events

Conflict Management:

  • Identify schedule overlaps
  • Set priorities for commitments (often subjective, but first commitment usually takes priority)

Organization and Visualization:

  • Organize events to make them easily distinguishable
  • Use visual cues to differentiate between event types
  • Arrange tasks by class and planned completion day

Accountability:

  • Regularly update and check schedules
  • Be consistent in using chosen organizational tools

Debrief

  • Which ideas were more about “what problem could the tool solve” and which were more about “what does the tool do”?
  • How did coming up with your first 3 ideas compare with building on others’ ideas?
  • In what ways were you able to build on others’ ideas? In what ways did others build on yours?
  • What themes did you notice in the ideas that were generated? Were there any surprises?