Our Superhero
When you were younger, did you ever dream of having a superhero buddy, or perhaps that you were one? Well, if so, you’re not alone – because we did the same! We turned to quick sketches and brainstormed ideas for our very own Hailstorm-Development superhero!
Idea Generation Methods
Idea generation typically refers to the process of creating, developing, and communicating abstract, concrete, or visual concepts (Osborne, 2019). In other words, you can think of this process as a form of problem-solving.
Brainstorming is a common activity for writers, designers, and others that are in the creative field. It is popular due to the fact that no idea is too crazy. Once you’ve finished up your brainstorming session, all you need to do is filter the suggestions for ones that seem the best.
Role playing is a fairly simple process: you switch places with your colleagues and try to see things from their point of view. It isn’t the quickest route to a solution, but commonly leads to new ideas and conclusions.
Generally speaking, a mind map represents tasks, words, concepts, or items relating to a central concept. Mind maps are usually non-linear and allow the framework to be built upon.
Instead of thinking of solutions to the issue at hand, try thinking of how not to solve it. For example, instead of increasing the number of shares your post on Facebook gets, you can think of how to decrease the number of shares. This will lead to non-plausible conclusions, which will, altogether, generate new ideas.
Unlike the aforementioned methods, polling the public is a multi-person process. For this process, you can utilize online tools like Survey Monkey and Google Forms. Furthermore, you can use your social media accounts to share them.
Introducing the Captain of Quality Content
So, who is the Captain of Quality Content? In short, she’s the one that comes up with different topics for us to write about in our blog.
First, she tries brainstorming. With several different colored markers, she writes down several main topics, like Technology, Marketing, and Design.
Next, she imagines if she were a potential client of ours. For example, a small business owner that has several products for sale. She thinks of the processes the business and its employees will use daily and how best to incorporate them into the website. Ultimately, she will be able to speed up the whole sale process.
Third, she returns to the topics that were generated in the brainstorming session. She thinks of related ideas to the main topics and draws lines to connect them.
Lastly, the Captain of Quality Content reviews the different sub-topics, which helps her generate several blog post ideas.
In Conclusion
In conclusion, like the Captain, you can use a variety of methods to generate ideas if you’re in a group or working alone. By regularly switching up your techniques, you can hopefully ward off creative droughts.
Ultimately, while some of the points we’ve made may not resonate with you, that doesn’t mean you’re out of options. Remain open-minded, try out new idea generation methods, and you will see how your creativity improves.
Resources & Further Reading
- Osborne, J. (2019, April 09). 7 Creative Idea Generation Methods. Retrieved November 09, 2020, from https://magazine.startus.cc/7-creative-idea-generation-methods/
Fantasy name generators. Names for all your fantasy characters. (n.d.). Retrieved November 09, 2020, from https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/