Better solutions and better decisions about a particular problem at hand are best done in brainstorming sessions. What is brainstorming you ask? Well, it’s an individual or group problem-solving technique that requires the spontaneous, random, quirky, and sometimes outrageous contribution of ideas from a group…or from yourself.

One is the loneliest number
Individual brainstorming doesn’t always produce a wider range of ideas. On the upside, there are no worries about what other people think or possibly being criticized about an idea so you are completely free to create any way you please. However, in the long run it’s simply not an effective way to develop ideas. It’s one sided, It’s not nearly as fun and what happens when your idea has reached it’s limit and you alone have exhausted all avenues? You don’t have anyone to help you take it to the next level.

It’s A Family Affair
Group brainstorming uses the experience, discipline and creativity of all group members. Ideas are easily developed in more depth and there is more opportunity for expanding ideas in more than one direction. Good sessions come from people who have experience exploring and developing ideas on their own and enjoy the experience of idea making with others. Teams that get the most out of brainstorming are the ones that have the best team culture around ideas and a process for going about finding, refining and harvesting ideas.

Brainstorming 101
Want an effective session? Follow these simple rules:

1. What the heck is our problem?
Understand the project goals before you begin and keep the session focused on those goals. Make sure no one idea or train of thought is followed for too long.

2. Know how to facilitate
A good facilitator knows how to run a session. Not only is it their job to prevent interruptions and fist fights over the last peanut M & M, they also have to be able to: Listen and help people express ideas. Limit the number of ideas so people have a chance to share. Encourage people to develop other people’s ideas or use other ideas to make new ones. Make the sure the brainstorm doesn’t get off track

3. You really ARE more creative with your socks on!
Comfort is the most important way to get great ideas. Work in an atmosphere that isn’t the norm. Coffee shop, meeting room, lobby, someone’s house, restaurant, zoo. Start out with small ideas, encourage the quiet folks to participate, throw out some crazy ideas to lighten the mood and have fun. Great ideas can come from some of the most random thoughts.

4. Establish ground rules
How are you going to run your session? Free for all? Formal hand raising? Freeze tag? Dodgeball? Assign tasks and reward play with positive reactions…or candy.

5. Postpone criticism
This isn’t the time or place to shoot anyone’s ideas down regardless of what you think of them. It not only stifles creativity and interrupts free flow of ideas, but it’s just not nice.

The Aftermath
Great ideas are created, brought to life, invented. So what happens to them after the session is over?

A. You should review and refine the ideas?

B. You should define goal-related criteria to evaluate ideas?

C. You should assign further investigation into potential avenues?

OR

D. You should bail?

The only way to make ideas useful is to refine and narrow them down. Come up with simple criteria for evaluating the ideas and go through them. Pass them around for further feedback if you must but don’t let it sit for another time.

Information brought to you by:

The Step by Step Guide to Brainstorming

Brainstorming

How to Run a Brianstorming Meeeting

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An Effective Business Meeting

Next week the Portland User Experience Group (PDXUX) will be having its July meeting. We have a group from Tektronix who has implemented a pilot project using Expression and will be presenting on their “Expression Experience”. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Steps in the UXD Design Process
• Tips and Tricks
• How the Usability, Graphic Designer, and Implementer roles worked together using the Blend and Design.

The cost to attend this event is FREE.

What: PDXUX - July Meeting

Topic: Using Expression Blend and Design

Who: Susan Adam, Cecilia Case, and Tony Tarr

When: Tuesday 07/17/2007
6:30 p.m. Mixer and Food
7:00 p.m. Housekeeping/Announcements
7:15 p.m. Presentation
8:30 p.m. Meeting Ends

Where: Pop Art, Inc.
(Community Conference Room on the 2nd floor)
718 SW Alder St
Portland, Oregon

(Give me a dollar Kelly)

Raul is an Interactive Art Director from Brasil who has some pretty exciting personal work in his portfolio. I particularly love the pieces where collages photographs using really interesting vector masks.

Go visit his site and file it under inspiration.

A couple of Fridays ago I attended Forward07, an American Marketing Association conference on innovation and sustainability. I’ve attended a few conferences in the past year and none were as inspiring as this one. Huge thanks to all the folks who helped pull this one together.

The Challenge

Ray Anderson, CEO of Interface, was the first speaker of the day. He told his story in a very simple and authentic way without the aid of any of the usual presentation tools. His pure honesty and passion held the room in a way I have seen very few speakers pull off. More than a decade ago, Ray was 61 years old and had no concern for anything but his bottom line. He was challenged by Interface to have a stance on the environment and a month later he approached them with ‘Mission Zero.’ By 2020 his company would not only have zero footprint on the earth, but every day of production would be giving back to the earth. He believed that his company could make this a reality while dramatically increasing their margins (‘doing well by doing good’).

Permission to Fail

Ray spoke about how giving his staff permission to fail created an environment spawned innovation. One story that particularly impressed me was how an engineer’s idea to tear down their production line and reinstall it would cut energy usage dramatically. Because they installed all of the equipment prior to running the pipe, the plant had narrow diameter pipe winding throughout the entire line. The friction created by the narrow pipe and the excessive length caused by the winding resulted in the need for high power pumps to push fluid through the system. By tearing down the entire line, running large diameter pipe first and then installing the equipment, Interface was able to use pumps that ran on 1/14 of the power than its predecessors did. The money saved by not using 86% of the energy dramatically increased the companies margins and significantly reduced their footprint (‘doing well by doing good’).

Interface could have looked at the capital cost, the potential for failure and denied the engineer’s proposal. Thi’s is just one of many stories Ray told that illustrated how being less afraid of failure inspired the innovation that has made Interface an icon of sustainability.

Looking to Nature

Interface’s designers and engineeres looked to nature to see what it does well and what they could take from it. Among other things, their designers noted how nature isn’t perfect. That while humans have a natural drive towards perfection, they dream of a natural place when they imagine the ideal. They designed a rug tile production system that produces no tile the same. This resulted in their quality assurance people not being able to find any imperfect tiles, easier installation and zero waste.

Ray said that the ‘best way to have good ideas is to stop having bad ideas.’ It sounds simple but you can tell he really means it. By expecting exactly that from his company, they are on a strong path towards their mission for zero footprint. He is an inspiration and I believe his vision will fundamentally change the way business is done. As he finished his story, the crowed roared into a standing ovation. One woman stood and shouted that he should be President. I don’t think Ray wants to do that, but I hope he inspires the next one.

The Tools

The rest of the day was filled with a panel of sustainable businesses and some motivational fun with Kevin Carroll. Kevin spoke about the importance of play and surrounding ourselves with tools that get us excited. He challenged the crowd to ditch their mission statements in favor of ‘inspirational dreams.’ I couldn’t agree more with that idea… It is my experience that you can people and companies who expose their spirit and passions are magnets. People just want to be a part their lives, projects or work.

I could go on and on about this conference and all of the amazing stories I heard. The important thing is leaving feeling energized and inspired.

I stumbled upon Christophe Remmy’s work this afternoon while looking around for illustrators. I love his balance of organic and graphic styling. The depth in texture and field is amazing… Parts feel strong and graphic while others feel like they are melting away into fog. Very strong work!
Check it out.

A nice gallery of logo design by Raja Sandhu. Some web 2.0 and some non web 2.0.

My favs:

…9. Don’t get stressed about your logo.
10. Get very stressed about user interface and product design. And your packaging.
11. Say thank you.

This tool is great for looking at the structure of a website in a new way.

htmlgraph

I like how it maps out elements such as forms and tables just like it does pages.