Brainstorming templates

A no-rules warm-up to get every idea out of people's heads before you judge anything.

1. Set a topic and a timer (5–10 min). Everyone adds ideas to Ideas — quantity over quality.
2. Hold all criticism: build on each other's cards freely.
3. Drag similar cards together into Themes to spot patterns.
4. Vote, move the strongest into Top picks and agree on next steps.

A fast sketching exercise that forces quantity: eight ideas in eight minutes.

1. Pick one challenge everyone focuses on.
2. Set 8 minutes — each person adds 8 quick ideas (one a minute) to Rapid ideas.
3. Move the most promising into Refine and flesh them out a little.
4. Dot-vote and pull the winners into Shortlist.

Silent, structured ideation where ideas build on each other without anyone dominating.

1. Six people each add 3 ideas in 5 minutes to Pass 1.
2. Read the previous round, then build on or add new ideas in Pass 2.
3. Repeat once more in Pass 3 — every round builds on the last.
4. Review all rounds together and vote on the best.

Turns a problem into an open, optimistic question that invites solutions.

1. Phrase the problem as 'How might we…' cards — not too broad, not too narrow.
2. Pick one and brainstorm solutions into Ideas.
3. Vote on the ideas with the most potential.
4. Move the winners into Most promising and define next steps.

Improve an existing product or process by interrogating it from seven angles.

1. Name the thing you want to improve.
2. Go column by column: Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate, Reverse.
3. Add at least one idea per column — the prompts force fresh thinking.
4. Review across columns and pick the ideas worth pursuing.

Explore an idea fully by generating questions instead of jumping to answers.

1. Put the idea or product at the centre of the discussion.
2. Fill each column with questions: Who, What, When, Where, Why, How.
3. Don't answer yet — aim for as many questions as possible.
4. Then prioritise which questions to answer and assign owners.

Stuck? Brainstorm how to cause the problem, then flip the answers into fixes.

1. Define the problem, then ask 'How could we make this worse?' in the first column.
2. Let the team be playful — list every way to cause or worsen it.
3. For each, write the opposite as a solution in Flip into solutions.
4. Pick the most realistic fixes and move them to Actions.

Gives everyone an equal voice by going around the group one idea at a time.

1. Go around the team in turn; each person adds one idea to Ideas.
2. Keep circling until ideas run out — pass if you have nothing.
3. Do a round of Build-ons where people improve others' ideas.
4. Vote and move favourites into Selected.

A quick way to converge: collect ideas, then let votes reveal the favourites.

1. Gather all ideas in the Ideas column first.
2. Give everyone a set number of votes (e.g. 3) and vote with the 👍 button.
3. Move the highest-voted cards into Shortlist.
4. Discuss the shortlist and capture the Decision.

Make sense of a pile of ideas by grouping them into natural themes.

1. Add every raw idea or note to Raw ideas.
2. Drag related cards together into Clusters — let groups emerge naturally.
3. Give each cluster a clear label in Named themes.
4. Discuss the themes and decide what to act on.

Agree on scope by sorting work into must-haves and nice-to-haves.

1. List the features, tasks or ideas as cards.
2. Place each into Must have, Should have, Could have or Won't have.
3. Challenge the 'Must haves' — keep them to the true essentials.
4. Use the result to agree scope for the sprint or release.

Explore a topic visually by branching outward from one central idea.

1. Write the core topic in Central idea.
2. Add the big sub-topics as Branches.
3. Expand each branch with details in Sub-ideas.
4. Step back, spot connections and decide where to dig deeper.