Ideation Walk
Generate ideas by going for a walk — research shows walking promotes greater idea generation.
What it is
When to use it
How to run it
Grab a stack of sticky notes, a marker and find a person who is happy to go for a walk with you. Indoors or outdoors will work just as well.
Share your How Might We..? question with your walking buddy. Give them time to ask questions if they are not familiar with what you are doing.
Start walking and for 2 minutes (keep time) you come up with as many solution ideas as possible to your How Might We…? question. Your buddy can write down your ideas as you go (or try and remember them).
Your buddy will set a timer for the 2 minutes, show active listening but they must not interrupt you.
After two minutes STOP walking and spend some time discussing your ideas and choosing the top 3 ideas.
You can go again with another How Might We…? either yours or your buddy's.
Your ideas can be used for a Concept Card or thought through some more using Round Robin.
More from Develop
Related tools
Pairs well with these other methods from the develop phase.
Brainstorming Warm Up
A quick, fun lead-in activity to get teams into a creative mindset before any ideation session.
Concept Cards
Define how your idea works, how it benefits the user, and how it solves the problem.
How Might We?
Reframe problems as open questions to turn challenges into opportunities for design.