Method Tag: association

  • Idea Speed Dating

    Idea Speed Dating


    Purpose

    This is a great way for a group to quickly come up with many ideas and to have people build on other’s ideas. The end result is a beautiful mural of thoughts that can be used as inspiration throughout events now and in the future.


    Instructions

    • Find a table (or series of tables) that is big enough for everyone in the group to sit around. People should fit tightly, and be shoulder to shoulder along all sides.
    • Place a large roll of paper that covers the entire table.
    • Make sure that everyone has something to draw with. Try having lots of colours.
    • Have the facilitator start playing music. Each person must start writing down an idea about the topic at hand.
    • After about 2 minutes, the music should stop. Everyone should take a step to their left so they are in the position that their neighbour was previously in.
    • The music starts again, and people must now build off of their neighbour’s idea.
    • Repeat steps 5 & 6 until the whole roll of paper is covered in ideas!

    Do

    • Stay open and positive during idea generation sessions.
    • Be creative with how you represent your ideas. Drawings & prototypes are encouraged. The bigger the better.

    Don’t

    • Judge ideas during idea generation sessions.
    • Write negative comments, or cross things out.

    Facilitator role:

    The facilitator’s role is in starting & stopping the music, and making sure that people are properly moving in the right direction. The facilitator also decides when the session is over.

  • Apples

    Apples

    Method - Apples

    Purpose

    Apples is a creative exercise used to show how important it is to see things from new perspectives as well as to create a quantity of ideas. The exercise challenges the boundaries of our already established perception and forces us to think in new ways and adopt new perspectives. This exercise could be held in groups or individually. 99% of all ideas are not unique. To find the unique 1%, new perspectives and ideas must be found.

    Use the method when you would like to start a creative session or when you are stuck in idea generation processes.


    Instructions

    This exercise could be held in groups or individually. Basically each group or individual are given the instructions to draw as many pictures of an apple as possible on the blank paper, in complete silence. They are given a time limit of 10 -15 minutes. There are several different variations of the method.

    If you want to be able to see the development of the group or the individual you could draw as many squares as possible on the paper beforehand and instruct the participants to start by drawing the first picture from the top to the bottom.

    Do:

    • Challenge your perceptions

    Don’t:

    • Don’t speak when doing the exercise

    Facilitator role:

    The facilitator gives the instructions to the participants and make sure that they follow the rules. It is important that the facilitator don’t help the participants in any way.

    Follow-up questions

    • Why did you think we did this?
    • What learnings do you take with you from this exercise?
    • How was it?
    • Do you want to change something before next session?
    • Did you feel that this was valuable for our project? In what way?