May 2020 Program

Topic

Brainstorm Better: Improving a Critical Skill

Program 

Brainstorming is a method that can help generate ideas. People often brainstorm during the ideation phase of human-centered design—when the focus is to dream up many potential solutions—and in conference rooms to solve business problems or to identify new opportunities. 

Facilitating and participating in brainstorming is a critical exploratory method that is often unused, rarely practiced, and not intentionally applied in business contexts. To explore this topic, the HCD Community of Practice welcomed guest speaker Natalie Nixon, PhD.

Natalie facilitated an engaging session via Zoom that included:

• A definition of brainstorming and its value in business contexts, 

• An introduction to three brainstorming techniques: quiet-storming, question-storming, and the acronym SCAMPER, and

• A series of virtual brainstorming exercises throughout the program.

Guest Speaker

Natalie Nixon, PhD is a creativity strategist and president of Figure 8 Thinking, LLC. She advises leaders on achieving business results by applying wonder and rigor. Natalie is a global speaker and the author of  The Creativity Leap: Unleash Curiosity, Improvisation, and Intuition at Work , the editor of Strategic Design Thinking: Innovation in Products, Services, Experiences, and Beyond, and a regular contributor to Inc. magazine. Education: BA (honors) in Anthropology and Africana Studies from Vassar College; an MS in Global Textile Marketing from Jefferson University; and a PhD in Design Management from the University of Westminster in London. 

You can find out more about Natalie at figure8thinking.com and follow her on social media @natwnixon. 

Post Program Viewing

Zoom Recording | Brainstorm Better: Improving a Critical Skill

Deck | Brainstorm Better: Improving a Critical Skill

Resources

Natalie provided a summary of eight Brainstorming Prompts that can help create breakthroughs for a product, service or experience. To stretch an idea, apply a few of the prompts to get unstuck and thinking  in new ways.

Blog post

Will post when it is published. 

Action Items

• Contact hcd@hcqis.org if you're interested in leading or contributing to the topic of content strategy for the June program
• Save the date: the next HCD Community of Practice is Friday, June 26. Look for more information soon.

Contact

For questions about this program, contact Scott Reed at sreed@tantustech.com.