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Rapid Ideation

Rapid ideation is easier with the right tools

Building big ideas in a short amount of time.


Ideas can often grow exponentially — especially if the participants are encouraged to think quickly without fear of judgment. Rapid ideation uses the power of groups to create a volume of new ideas/solutions to evaluate shortly thereafter. 

To get started, assemble a group of at least 3-4 people who may be directly, or even indirectly, involved in your project. Then, find a space that is conducive to your session (warning: these sessions can sometimes get loud — so be considerate of your neighbors) and get ready to write/sketch fast using a Post-it® Dry Erase Surface or Post-it® Super Sticky Notes.

  • 1

    Follow these 5 steps for an effective ideation session

    Before inviting participants to generate ideas, take 10 minutes to discuss your target audience. Who are they? What do they want? What do they need? Clearly state what the challenge, problem or opportunity your team needs to address for the audience. Write this down where the entire team can see. Briefly role-play as a group to put yourself in their shoes and start addressing the realities of the situation.


    Use Post-it® Dry Erase Surface and Post-it® Super Sticky Notes for rapid ideation.

  • 2

    Next, spend 20 minutes discussing the scope of the project. What are the budget and time parameters your project is dealing with? How can these parameters potentially shift? Think of best- and worse-case scenarios to set the framework for your discussion.

  • 3

    Now it’s GO time! Take the next 10 minutes to have each team member write down their ideas on different colors of Post-it® Super Sticky Notes. Everyone in your group should participate and encourage them to write/sketch their idea to help articulate their points. After the team has exhausted their ideas, each team member should add their Post-it® Super Sticky Notes to the wall where all ideas are revealed. Spend the next 20 minutes for each team member to give a brief overview of their ideas and then use the next 40 minutes to brainstorm ideas/concepts that address your project’s needs.

  • 4

    The final step to this process is testing. Spend 20 minutes examining the ideas and filter out the ones that don’t necessarily address your project. Then, act out the best ones from the viewpoint of your audience — how would your audience interact with your idea? What are its strengths and weaknesses? Sketch out a user-flow to refer to as necessary.Tip: Consider using team voting or affinity mapping to help summarize and prioritize ideas

    Final step

  • 5

    Finally, record the session by taking photos/documenting your rapid ideation session. This will serve as a resource/framework to keeping your ideas focused and action-oriented.

  • Find the products that bring this method to life at post-it.com/collaborate

collaboration breadth 60_minutes small_group dry_erase_surface big_pads meeting_tools_tactics

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