Tips to make your next generative meeting inclusive and effective

PREP FOR THE SESSION

Define the problem

The most important key to a successful brainstorm is setting the right scope for your prompt. Use abstraction laddering (also called “how-why laddering”) to reframe and evaluate the various levels of specificity for your “how might we” statement.

Overview of abstraction laddering

Establish shared context

Create an “introduction” for your session with info such as:

• A brief research recap with key points to remember
• The user workflow so participants can understand how the moment you’re brainstorming fits into the bigger picture
• User stories to clarify requirements new solution ideas should consider
• Agreements (guidelines or things you assume to be true) for unimportant decisions so participants do not have to consider those topics. Such as: expected screen size, maximum units, or default values. E.g., if sketching a dashboard view, participants should use "55.55" or a similar placeholder value for metrics numbers.

Example context setting frame in Miro board

Identify a co-facilitator

It’s helpful to have a partner who knows your goals for the session to support your efforts to keep things on track. Supporting tasks include time cop, joining a breakout group to keep conversation going, affinity map helper, or taking notes on your facilitation skills so you can improve your next session.

Select a tool

Decide on the best tool for your activity. Miro is a helpful digital whiteboard tool to generate ideas on sticky notes, draw diagrams, or insert photos of physical sketches. Figjam also works well.

Time it out