Understanding the customer, establishing relationships and generating insights are the first steps that are taken when using the methodology of Design Thinking in the creation of projects.
The generation of ideas is the key point to lead the organization to achieve the best solutions for the client's problems.
A very useful methodology for processing the information collected in the field is to do what is known as clustering, which is based on identifying patterns through a process of generating ideas. These ideas are documented, families are established; then it is defined if there are connections between them, they are grouped by categories and identified.
This step represents a challenge to the work team, because creativity is put to the test and will allow us to provide more accurate solutions to meet customer needs.
However, generating ideas is a whole process and requires a series of rules to be successful and to take a firm step in the search for the realization of the project you are working on:
"One conversation at a time.
Team members need to be clear to highlight one conversation at a time when generating an idea so that each is given the necessary importance.
"Defer judgment
Do not rush to criticize ideas before they have been strengthened by the contributions of each team member.
"Remain focused on the issue.
You must stay focused on the issue under discussion.
"Promote extravagant ideas
Generate unusual ideas, which are those that are going to break with the established to think differently and look for innovative solutions.
"Building on the ideas of others
There must be a commitment throughout the team on the contribution that each one makes to the ideas that are generated.
"Being visual and graphic
It's a must, especially in prototyping.
"Quantity is better than quality
At this stage you should go for quantity rather than quality. Quality will start to be built once the ideas have been selected.
Once the ideas have been generated, we must have at hand the set of design criteria and priority needs that the user experiences and that we want to satisfy in order to select them appropriately.
Excerpt from the webinar: "Service Design: creating memorable experiences", given by Guillermo Cardoza, full professor at INCAE Business School.
