June 18, 2024
3
 min

The Product Ideation Workshop

For small teams creating new or iterating on existing products, a Product Ideation Workshop ...

For small teams creating new or iterating on existing products, a Product Ideation Workshop can be a valuable process. By using a focused brainstorming session that involves creative thinking and rapid prototyping , teams are able to begin to realise their next big thing. Below is a quick guide to get started with the process. Feel free to adjust for your org.

What is a Product Ideation Workshop?

A Product Ideation Workshop is a structured, collaborative session designed to generate and develop new product ideas. It brings together team members from various areas of the product development process to brainstorm, prototype, and test concepts. The goal is to collaborate early, utilise the team's collective creativity and expertise and have a shared understanding before a line of code is written

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Why Brainstorming is Crucial

1. Engineering Insight: Brainstorming sessions are especially valuable for engineering teams as they allow for an alignment of technology to the problem being solved. Engineers draw from their well of knowledge and can debate and discuss the merits of various tech stacks, programming languages, or tools, providing consensus on tooling. This collaborative decision-making process can involve visual mapping , advocacy and voting for specific technologies, providing engineering an agreed strategy.

2. Quick Wins for Product Teams: Product teams benefit from early, tangible wins by hosting the workshop. By collaborating closely with other teams, they can gain insights into what works best in terms of processes and how to facilitate them. The visual brainstorming and interactions can help in gathering better estimates for sprints and overall project timing, enabling more accurate planning and resource allocation.

3. Enhanced Design Perspective: For design teams, these workshops provide a clearer vision of the product’s look and feel. Designers can learn from the product and development teams about what hasn’t worked in the past and what could potentially make the design stand out from the competition. This understanding helps create designs that are not only aesthetically pleasing but functional and competitive.

Steps 

1. Preparation and Planning:

  • Define the Scope: Clearly outline the problem or idea to be tackled. Ensure it's specific enough to address within the workshop timeframe.If other sessions are required add them to the calendar. 
  • Set Objectives: Outline the end goals, such as creating a functional prototype or gathering initial user feedback.
  • Materials: Prepare all necessary materials like paper, markers etc.

2. Research and Assumption Building:

  • Market Research: Quickly gather insights about the industry, competitors, and user needs. Identify gaps in existing solutions.
  • Assumption Mapping: List assumptions about user needs, preferences, and pain points to guide your prototyping.

3. Define:

  • Problem Statement: Create a concise statement(s) based on your research and assumptions to guide the workshop.
  • Criteria for Success: Define what a successful prototype should achieve, such as addressing key pain points or demonstrating core functionality.

4. Ideate:

  • Brainstorming Session: Conduct a focused session to generate ideas, encouraging wild and diverse thoughts without judgement.
  • Idea selection: Use note and/or dot voting to choose the most promising ideas that align with your success criteria.

5. Prototype:

  • Create Low-Fidelity Prototypes: Develop quick, simple prototypes using basic materials. Focus on essential features.
  • Emphasise Speed: Aim to create tangible prototypes quickly to test and iterate upon.

6. Test:

  • Internal Testing: Role-play as potential users within your team to identify obvious issues and gather preliminary feedback.This can be scenario based
  • Gather Feedback: Collect input on what works and what doesn’t, using this information to refine your prototypes.

7. Iterate:

  • Refine Prototypes: Make necessary adjustments based on feedback, iterating quickly to improve the design.
  • Plan for External Testing: Prepare to gather feedback from real users through interviews, surveys, or usability tests.

8. Reflect and Next Steps:

  • Reflect on Learnings: Discuss what was learned from the process, feedback, and iterations.
  • Plan Next Steps: Outline further development steps, assign tasks, and set deadlines to continue progress.

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Additional References

Not every team is the same, so feel free to mix and match these resources to find the best fit for your team's specific needs and dynamics. Here are some additional articles to help you get started with running effective workshops:

  1. "How to Run a Design Thinking Workshop" by Workshopper:some text
  2. "Design Thinking Workshop" by Miro:some text
    • Miro offers a comprehensive template and guide for running a design thinking workshop, complete with interactive elements to enhance collaboration.
    • Design Thinking Workshop
  3. "The Best Design Thinking Exercises for Each Phase of a Project" by Voltage Control:some text

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