OUGD501 - Brainstorming Research

Process and Features of Brainstorming

General

- allows people to come up with ideas that may be obscure
- allows more ideas to be formed from previous ideas
- ideas should be evaluated at the end of the session
- best to combine individual and group brainstorming 

Group 

- criticism or rewarding of ideas should be avoided
- group behaviour can have negative effects and lead to less and limited ideas being generated 
- everyone should be encouraged to participate 
- there shouldn't be any judgement of ideas
- people can put too much focus on one persons idea and not come up with their own 
- 'blocking' can occur where people can forget their own ideas while they wait to say their idea
- good for solving complex problems 
- more depth explored
- information and time to prepare before brainstorming sessions should be allowed 
- one person should record the session 
- notes should be placed where everyone can see them e.g. whiteboards , computer etc 
- define the problem 
- list criteria
- generate as many ideas as possible
- share ideas then build on them 
- everyone should contribute 
- a group facilitator should keep the group on track
- provocation or random input can lead to different results
- write topic on paper
- write down anything that comes to mind
- continue writing 
- write in points
- organise the brainstorm by crossing out unuseful points and note the important ones to put into a mindmap
- there needs to be strong leadership and framework to the session to allow everyone to have their say and make the session the most productive
- everyone should contribute their ideas
- ideas should not be rejected 
- sessions can lead everyone in the same direction 
- anchoring is where the first ideas are favoured most 
- conformity pressure means that other ideas are left because the group is interested in a particular idea 
- judgment needs to be suspended 
- quantity of ideas is important 
- found that group brainstorming comes up with less ideas than the same amount of people who work alone then come together 
- people come up with fewer and lower quality ideas compared with working alone 
- people have to wait while others say their ideas meaning their ideas can be lost 
- the group setting however makes people feel more productive
- teleporting storming involves imagining if you were in a different place or time 
- figure storming involves imagining how someone else would approach the issue 
- mind the gap involves writing down the steps to get from the start of the project to the end 
- changing your attributes means considering what would happen if one attribute was different 
- all of these techniques allow new perspectives to be considered 
- mindmapping is a type of brainstorming 
- Medici effect storming involves finding parallels between things
- blind writing means writing continuously for 10 minutes, an alarm is set  
- group ideation storming means working in pairs 
- reverse storming involves considering what people assume then thinking about how to do the  opposite
- a study by Texas A&m University suggests:
 brainstorming is not the best strategy to generate unique and varied ideas
can lead to fixation on an idea or block other ideas leading to conformity
- fixation can occur unconsciously, leading to the suggestion of ideas similar to others
- taking breaks slows down the process of declining ideas, in terms of quantity and variety 

Individual 

- ideas may not develop as fully as when working in a group as other members will contribute a wider experience 
- write as many ideas down as possible
- brainwriting  
- everyone should come up with ideas by themselves before sharing in brainstorming  
- the aim is to create lots of strong ideas rather than good ideas 
- can be combined with normal brainstorming, ideas are written individually then brought together and expanded upon as they provide inspiration for other people
- 1958 research at Yale University found that students working on their own cam eup with twice as many solutions to problems as brainstorming groups 
- Free Association is a brainstorming technique and means:
think without judging the ideas
thinking quickly aides this process
flashcards can help, images can be sketched or words written down
turn the cards over to avoid distraction 
this is an 'out of sight out of mind' technique that helps provide a clean slate 
- Word / Phrase Listing is:
a form of free association 
helps generate lots of ideas to be used individually or combined with other material 
aim for quantity of ideas
- Divorced Word / Phrase Listing:
uses a word / phrase list around a subject 
these words are then associated with another word creating six references to work with 


https://www.dlsweb.rmit.edu.au/lsu/content/1_studyskills/study_pdf/mindmap.pdf
https://www.mindtools.com/brainstm.html
https://www.forbes.com/sites/nataliepeace/2012/04/09/why-most-brainstorming-sessions-are-useless/#2066c11c668e
https://lifehacker.com/use-brainwriting-instead-of-brainstorming-to-generate-1615592703
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20131008062609-206580-the-secret-to-brainstorm-success
https://www.inc.com/john-boitnott/10-longtime-brainstorming-techniques-that-still-work.html
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wired-success/201204/why-brainstorming-doesnt-improve-productivity-or-creativity
http://www.theinformedillustrator.com/2013/01/brainstorming-for-illustrators-1-free.html