How Might We
How Might We is a simple but powerful question used in the ideation phase of a design project. It helps teams come up with creative solutions to a problem. How Might We is like a magic phrase that sparks creativity and helps you find the best ways to solve a design problem during the ideation phase.
Identify a Problem: First, you need to understand a problem or challenge in your project. This could be something like "How can we make our website easier to use?"
Ask "How Might We": Then, you ask the question, "How might we make our website easier to use?" This question opens the door to brainstorming and finding potential solutions.
Generate Ideas: Your team can start brainstorming and coming up with lots of ideas to answer the "How might we" question. These ideas can be wild, creative, or practical.
Explore Solutions: You explore these ideas to see which ones have the most potential to solve the problem. Some may be combined or modified to create a final solution.
Facilitation
The facilitation of the "How Might We" method begins with the identification of core challenges or pain points discovered during the research phase. Insights are gathered and framed as concise problem statements that highlight specific user needs. These statements serve as the foundation for the exercise, ensuring the team remains focused on actual evidence rather than speculative issues.
Once the problems are defined, the facilitator reworks each statement into a question starting with the phrase "How might we." This specific phrasing is designed to suggest that a solution is possible while remaining broad enough to encourage creative thinking. The objective is to find a middle ground where the question is neither too narrow, which restricts innovation, nor too broad, which lacks actionable direction.
The finalised questions are presented to the group to trigger a structured brainstorming session. Participants generate as many ideas as possible within a set time limit, aiming for quantity over immediate quality. This process encourages the exploration of various angles and unconventional approaches to the problem.
After the ideation period, the results are organised and reviewed by the team. Ideas are often categorised by theme or feasibility to identify the most promising concepts for further development. This collaborative filtering ensures that the most impactful solutions are selected for prototyping and testing, effectively transitioning from abstract problems to tangible design opportunities.
Further Reading
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