Crazy Ideas
One of my favorite advertising slogans comes from, out of all places, Apple.
“Think Different” not only sought to make Apple’s case as to why their product is superior, but also gives a great reflection on what it means to be a gamechanger.
The same goes with ideation. Oftentimes, when people come up with solutions to a problem, they automatically put their defenses on. I’m guilty of doing this myself. We only seriously consider the realistic ideas, while simultaneously ignoring the crazy, out-of-the-box ones that come into our head, seemingly out of nowhere.
But it is the most far-fetched ideas that can lead to a great solution. As creatives, we must retrain our brains ourselves to lower our defenses, and take consideration of all of the crazy ideas. In the words of Steve Jobs, the people “who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.” And though he might have been talking about people who revolutionized the human race, the same concept can relate to crazy ideas. If you’re crazy enough to think an idea can work, it just might, or lead you to a solution that will.
Seeking Out Inspiration
This week, my Sprint group met to begin Phase 1 of the process. Our task is to create a FinTech solution that will teach teenagers about personal finance. We discussed what we would want in a MVP. In the case of a sprint, MVP does not stand for Most Valuable Player, but rather, a Minimum Viable Product. According to a blog post by designer Adam Fard, “MVP stands for Minimum Viable Product—a very early form of a product that has but a set of core features to satisfy the users’ most basic needs.” In other words, an MVP is the most basic idea which contains all the features to be a solution.
As our group discussed in the previous week, we wanted to avoid groupthink. So we spent a couple minutes to work alone together. According to Jake Knapp in Sprint, “When each person sketches alone, he or she will have time for deep thoughts. When the whole team works in parallel, they’ll generate competing ideas, without the groupthink of a group brainstorm.” Using this method would allow us to avoid groupthink and for each of us to come up with stuff individually to share with the group.
Using the concept of working alone together, we completed what is known in the sprint process as lightning demos. According to Pattie Belle Hastings in The Sprint Handbook, “The purpose of this exercise is to provide relevant examples by showcasing products or services that can serve as inspiration for their concepts and solutions.” During this time, we turned off our Zoom cameras and looked for examples that were both similar and different from our ideas. After this time, we then reconvened and shared our findings using sticky notes on a virtual Zoom Whiteboard.
Our Phase 1 whiteboard
Sketching Like Crazy
After our group finished the lightning demos, we then moved on to 4-step sketching. Hastings lists each of the timed 4 steps in The Sprint Handbook:
Notes
Ideas
Crazy 8’s
Solution Sketch
Although some may consider time constraints to be limited, I’ve actually found them to be effective in forcing me to do the work. Oddly enough, it’s an effective form of cramming.
The first step is easy – simply taking notes based on the findings. I looked at the whiteboard and wrote down some notes in my sketchbook. Then, it becomes time to sketch out some ideas based on the notes.
The third step is Crazy 8’s. This step involves dividing a paper into 8 squares, taking one idea, and drawing it in different ways in each box, while having only one minute per box.
It was at this point of the 4-step sketching activity that I needed to learn to truly lower my “protective shield” and allow for random ideas. According to Linda Dorn in a blog post for Conceptboard, “Crazy 8’s [is a] core component of the design sprint stage within design thinking. It challenges designers to really think creatively, pushing past their initial ‘normal’ ideas to get to some really crazy, abstract or impossible ones.” Completing my Crazy 8 sketches gave me the opportunity to be truly creative in coming up with solutions. No matter how insignificant or “that would never work”-esqe the idea seemed, I went along with them and sketched the ideas into the box.
My Crazy 8 sketches for a potential personal finance app.
Last but not least comes the solution sketch. This is when you settle on one idea to fully sketch out, with annotation to explain what is going on. This is the sketch everyone silently shares on Day 2 – and by silently, I mean, to no discussion. So the sketch has to be complete enough that everyone knows what your proposed solution is without any verbal explanation. And there’s only 40 minutes to work on this.
After looking back at my notes, sketches, and Crazy 8’s, I saw a pattern begin to emerge. This pattern then led me to the concept for my solution sketch. I feel confident in knowing that the idea that I will be sharing with my group is backed by multiple rounds of thinking – including crazy thoughts.
What’s Next?
On “Day 2,” of the sprint, my group will reconvene to share our solution sketches and move forward from there. We will go through decision-making, voting, and storyboarding activities to continue our fast-paced progress.
I’m Sean Formantes, a graphic designer and content creator for social media. I am a lover of music, art, and coffee.