Make Time for Ideation [Templates + AI Prompts]
Why read this?
Most products stumble after the research handoff. Teams rush the first obvious idea and spend weeks fixing it later. A two-hour structured ideation sprint can surface 20 or more options and reduce late-stage rework by 40%.
Ideation is crucial for understanding problems deeply and generating creative solutions that truly address them. Ideation’s importance lies in its ability to focus on users, bring diverse viewpoints together for more inclusive solutions, and strengthen a sense of ownership and commitment among team members.
Why ideation matters?
User focus. Places users’ needs at the central focus across different teams, enabling product managers, engineers, and designers from various product lines to identify common user problems and build empathy for existing pain points.
Community and diversity. Brings in different perspectives, helps reduce bias, and leads to more thoughtful, inclusive solutions. It also builds trust and makes collaboration easier.
More ideas, less rework. Helps teams solve problems faster by exploring more ideas early. This makes it easier to spot what works and avoid risks before they become issues.
Engagement and ownership. People are more engaged when they help shape the solution. Being part of the process builds ownership and real investment in the outcome.
See the big picture together. Exploring ideas together helps the team align on goals, clarify priorities, and make more informed decisions.
The problem
Despite heavy emphasis on user research, ideation remains the most undervalued stage of human-centered design. So why do designers underrate something so valuable?
The most common reasons teams skip ideation:
- Stakeholders don’t see the valueDesigners can’t communicate the benefitsLack of skills or facilitation confidenceNo clear structure or process to follow
This creates a vicious cycle. Teams rush to the first “obvious” solution, then spend weeks fixing what structured ideation could have prevented. Meanwhile, research shows that 80% of ideation sessions rely on unstructured discussion as their primary method (NNGroup), resulting in superficial solutions despite solid research.
The answer isn’t just convincing stakeholders, it’s having a clear, structured approach that delivers visible results.
How to run an effective ideation session
- Define the problemSpecify the goal of the sessionChoose the right techniquesStrengthen your facilitation skills
Here’s a more detailed breakdown of each step:
Define the problem
Before any ideation session, make sure that you have a shared understanding of problems and that there are no blocking unknowns. It’s impossible to come up with a great solution without understanding the problem in detail. Before looking for ideas, your team needs a clearly defined problem to solve — a focused problem statement.
The problem statement should set the context of the problem and highlight its importance. It should also show the gap between the current and desired state.
The problem statement should be
- Focused on an existing problemFocused on one problem only. Not include a solutionShortBroad enough to permit creative freedom solutionsNarrow enough to be practicable
You could have a problem statement before the ideation session, or you can include a problem definition in the ideation workshop and define it with the team. Just keep in mind that co-creating the problem statement will take more time. In both cases, start the session by sharing the insights and learnings about the problem with your team. Walk the team through key insights, highlight any unknowns, and encourage questions to make sure everyone is aligned.
Pro tip: Generating How Might We questions from your Problem Statement could be a good starting point for ideation.
Specify the goal of the session
After defining the problem, it is time to specify the goal of the ideation session for the participants. This is a crucial step for everyone to understand the expected outcome of the session.
Based on the ideation session goal, you will be able to come up with the best possible structure, exercises, and timing. This will set the ground for understanding whether you can reach the goal within a single session or a few sessions to get the desired result.
Pro tip: When defining a goal, use the framework SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely.
Example of a well-defined goal: At the end of the session, we should have a planned roadmap for the upcoming two months, with clear action items for each team member.”
Choose the right techniques
There are thousands of techniques for brainstorming and generating ideas. The biggest challenge is understanding which works better for your goals and team. It will take you more than one iteration to come up with a good set of working exercises, but fortunately, some general rules can help you understand how these techniques work and how to apply each.
1. Follow the idea-generation process that consists of two phases.
- Divergent — at this stage, we try to generate as many and as wild ideas as possible, no borders.Convergent — at this one, you narrow down the paths and ideas and choose a direction you want to go.
Both are necessary for your ideation process, and you might need to go through several iterations. For the first iteration, you will generate 50 ideas in the divergent phase and then narrow those down to 20 ideas in the convergent phase. During the second iteration, you can build more ideas on top of those 20 ideas. Once you feel confident in the amount and quality of ideas, as your last step, you should again narrow them down.
2. Alternate individual activities with group or pair activities and put the activities in the right order.
The results from different types of ideation give us different outcomes. The science behind group creativity states that it’s better to start individual brainstorming before sharing ideas and thoughts with the group. This allows less outspoken participants to share their thoughts and often takes the ‘obvious’ ideas out. Make everyone do each exercise alone first. Some people just need more time to think and can’t do that inside the group. Starting with individual exercises and sharing before moving forward helps build on others’ ideas, which is very effective and can create more unique ideas.
3. Choose the right exercises and place them in the right order.
To effectively navigate the ideation process, it’s essential to understand the techniques and their primary objectives:
Warm-up methods: Warm-ups help activate creative thinking and get everyone mentally ready to ideate. They set the pace and ease people into the session. Examples: Icebreakers, Creative Games, Sketching.
Exploration techniques: These techniques help participants dive deeper into the problem space, challenge assumptions, and explore a wide array of potential solutions. Examples: Mind Mapping, Define Blind Spots, Problem Framing, The 5 Whys
Inspiration techniques: While every design challenge is specific, many share underlying patterns with solutions that already exist. Exploring competitors, similar products, or broader trends can surface ideas you might not arrive at from scratch. It’s a way to shift perspective, uncover new angles. Examples: “Competitors, Comparables, Trends”, Competitor analysis
Core idea generation techniques: Once the problem is clear and the team is warmed up, the focus shifts to generating a wide range of ideas. The goal is to explore as many directions as possible before narrowing down. This can be done through different methods or repeated cycles of the same one. Examples: 3–12–3 Brainstorm, Crazy 8s, Brainwriting, Rapid sketching, Round Robin
Prioritization tactics: Prioritization helps the team focus on the most promising ideas by evaluating them against key criteria like impact, feasibility, user value, and business goals. It brings structure to decision-making and helps align next steps. Examples: Dot Voting, Impact vs. Feasibility Matrix, Kano or RICE models, Cost-Benefit Analysis.
Closing activities: Wrap up by capturing what was generated and outlining what happens next. Summarize key ideas, assign owners, define timelines, and document outcomes. A quick reflection helps the team improve future sessions.
Setting up an effective ideation process takes time and experimentation. Understanding the purpose of each technique helps you build a flow that fits your goals and team. After the session, run a quick retrospective. What worked? What didn’t? Small adjustments make your next workshop better.
Strengthen your facilitation skills
Being a successful facilitator requires a specific set of skills that go beyond the skills of a UX designer. These skills enable facilitators to guide discussions, encourage participation, and ensure the ideation process is both productive and creative. Here is a list of tips to help you set up and run a successful ideation session.
Come prepared. It takes a lot of effort to prepare for the ideation workshop, but this assures its success.
Put on facilitator mindset. When facilitating the session, you should wear the hat of facilitator and not UX designer, and your primary responsibility is not to come up with ideas but to prepare and lead the session. Be ready to adapt and focus on guiding the team effectively.
Invite the right people. Select participants from across product, design, engineering, marketing, customer success, and anyone else close to the problem. A diverse group brings broader insights. Keep it under ten — larger groups make it harder for everyone to contribute meaningfully.
Give clear instructions. Make sure everyone understands the goal and every technique to prevent confusion and lost time.
Create a safe structured environment. As a facilitator, make sure you present the rules before the session and follow the team to keep them during the whole session.
- Everyone is creative — All roles can contribute.No judgment — Every idea is welcome at this stage.Quantity over quality — More ideas = better ideas later.Be visual — Sketches > words.“Yes, and…” — Build on others’ ideas.Wild is good — Stretch beyond the obvious.Equal participation — One voice at a time.Keep it timed — Fast pace encourages flow.Respect feedback — Critique ideas, not people.
Listen actively: Give attention to every participant’s input, ensuring all viewpoints are considered. Follow the one conversation at a time principle.
Deal with troublemakers. Address disruptive behavior calmly. Acknowledge their input, but make sure others can contribute. If needed, use smaller groups or assign focused tasks to redirect their energy.
Be a strong moderator when needed. Guide the discussion, involve quieter participants, and keep things on track. Stay neutral, address conflicts directly, and encourage open, respectful dialogue.
Break down silos. Cross-functional collaboration requires trust and shared focus. Creating a safe space for open discussion helps teams align and innovate together.
Embrace failure and learn. Encourage the team to experiment. Every outcome adds insight. When something doesn’t work, help the group reflect, adjust, and try a new approach based on what they’ve learned.
Balance structure and flexibility. While following the workshop’s structured agenda, remain open to detours that might lead to innovative ideas.
Overcome egos and hierarchy. Remind participants that the goal is to explore ideas collaboratively rather than competitively. Introduce activities that mix participants from different levels, such as breakout groups or round-robin sharing. You can use anonymous submission of ideas. If certain individuals overshadow the discussion, carefully redirect the conversation to include others.
Prevent groupthink. Start with individual idea writing before group activities. This captures more diverse input and gives quieter participants space to contribute. Encourage differing perspectives and make sure all ideas are heard and considered.
Shortcut circular discussions. When discussions become circular, redirect the conversation towards the session’s goals. Reframe the problem by posing it from a different perspective to stimulate new ideas and break out of the loop.
Keep the energy level high: Suggest engaging in activities that involve variety and movement, and ensure frequent, short breaks to allow participants to recharge. Create a supportive environment.
Time management: Keep an eye on the clock to ensure that the session progresses at a good pace without rushing.
Create an ‘Idea Box’: Use a dedicated space to note off-topic but potentially valuable ideas to revisit later.
Be ready to adapt: Stay flexible and ready to change tactics if the current approach isn’t working.
A well-organized ideation process strengthens collaboration and improves solution quality. It brings diverse teams together, builds empathy, and reduces bias. It supports a culture of innovation, helps surface better ideas, and aligns the team around shared goals and priorities.
Ideation workshop templates and AI prompts
If you’re running a session with your team, these templates are ready to use. I’ve set up the structure for you and included facilitation tips throughout. It should feel like I’m right there with you, guiding the process.
Team ideation is powerful for all the reasons above. But in practice, ideation often happens solo. You might be preparing for a session, working through ideas between workshops, or simply designing without a team.
In those cases, you can still run an effective ideation session. Use these templates together with the AI prompts below to guide your thinking, simulate different perspectives, and keep the process structured.
AI won’t replace your team, but it can help you think more broadly, organize your ideas, and keep moving when you’re working solo.
1. AI role setup: UX ideation facilitator & thinking partner
You are a UX ideation facilitator and thinking partner.
You’ll guide a solo UX designer through a structured ideation session and help generate, organize, and reflect on ideas together.
Follow these principles throughout the session:
- Start with clarity: guide the user to define a focused problem and a clear session goalUse a divergent → convergent process: first generate a wide range of ideas, then help narrow and prioritizePrioritize quantity and variety: help unlock obvious, unconventional, and edge-case ideasApply proven workshop techniques: adapt methods like Crazy 8s, Brainwriting, Mind Mapping, Dot Voting, etc., for solo useSimulate diverse perspectives: explore how a product manager, engineer, first-time user, power user, or stakeholder might see the problem or solutionHelp remix and evolve ideas: suggest combinations, iterations, or MVP-friendly versionsBe supportive and strategic: ask clarifying questions, encourage creative risk-taking, and help the user push past the obvious
2. Generate a problem statement
“I’m working on a UX problem, and I want your help crafting a clear, actionable problem statement.
Use the 6Ws framework to get there:
— Who is impacted by the problem?
— What is the core issue they’re facing?
— Where does it happen (in what part of the experience or journey)?
— When does it occur (what situation or context)?
— Why does it happen (what causes it)?
— Why does it matter — for the user and the business?
Here’s what I know so far from research:
[Insert 3–5 insights, quotes, or data points from interviews, surveys, usability tests, support tickets, etc.]
Based on this, help me write a problem statement that:
— Focuses on one user problem
— Doesn’t include a solution
— Is short, but includes just enough context
— Is broad enough for ideation, but narrow enough to be actionable
Then give me 2–3 quick variants with slightly different framing angles.”
3. Generate “How Might We” questions
Help me generate 3–5 high-quality “How Might We” questions based on the following problem statement: [Insert problem statement]
Rules:
– Focus on one clear problem (not a solution)
— Keep it broad enough to allow for multiple creative solutions
— Make it narrow enough to be solvable in a practical way
— Don’t include specific features or outputs
— Frame as an opportunity, not a constraint
— Stay user-centered (speak to the user’s experience, behavior, or need)
— Allow different angles (e.g., emotional, technical, process, business)
4. Run a “Know / Don’t know” exercise
I want to run a solo Know / Don’t Know mapping exercise.
Help me break down what I already understand about this problem and what I’m missing.
Follow this structure:
Know / Know — Things I know and am confident about
Know / Don’t Know — Things I know I need to explore or clarify further
Don’t Know / Know — Internal blind spots or overlooked areas I haven’t questioned yet
Don’t Know / Don’t Know — Assumptions or unknown unknowns that might surprise me
Here’s what I’m exploring:
[Insert topic or problem space, or paste your research insights]
Ask me questions if needed to help me fill out each category.
Then help me reflect on where my biggest gaps are, and how I can explore them.
5. Inspiration wall (competitors, concepts, current Wave)
I want to run a UX inspiration exercise to explore how others solve similar problems both directly and indirectly. Please help me collect inspiration in 3 categories:
Competitors
— Who else is solving this problem for users?
— What’s working well about their solution?
— What patterns, features, or messaging do they share?
Comparable Concepts
— What are some analogous solutions in other domains?
— Are there tools, platforms, or workflows solving a similar kind of problem, even if it’s a different industry?
— How might I apply patterns from those ideas to my context?
Current Wave
— What are the emerging trends or innovations in this space?
— Are there cultural, behavioral, or tech shifts I should keep in mind?
— How are user expectations evolving here?
Here’s the context for what I’m exploring:
[Paste your problem statement here]
Let’s do one section at a time.
For each, ask me reflective questions, challenge assumptions, and help me extract specific ideas I can build on in ideation.
6. Idea generation
“Based on this HMW statement: [insert How Might We here]
Generate 10 diverse solution ideas.
Apply the following rules:
— Prioritize quantity over quality
— Explore wild, unconventional, even silly directions
— All ideas are welcome
— Use simple language or visuals to express ideas
— Focus on solving for the user, not the interface
7. Simulate diverse perspectives
For the following idea:[Insert idea]
Help me view it through the lens of different personas:
— A new user
— A power user
— A user with accessibility needs
— A stakeholder focused on growth
For each, identify:
— Their reaction or concern
— Opportunities they might see
— What changes might they suggest
Then group all insights into:
— Safe/obvious ideas
— Innovative ideas
— Wild or unexpected ideas worth exploring
8. Critical thinking check
Let’s run a quick stress-test for this idea [Insert idea here]
If this idea failed in the real world, what are the top 5 reasons why?
For each:
— Describe what could go wrong
— Suggest a way I could test, prototype, or minimize that risk early
Which of these risks are worth addressing now vs. later?
9. Prioritization
Here are X ideas I’ve liked: [Insert ideas here]
Please help me:
Group them into 2–3 logical themes or categories
Simulate dot voting from three perspectives: UX Designer, PM, Engineer — which ideas stand out and why?
— Place them on an Impact vs. Effort matrix:
— Quick Wins
— ️High-Effort, High-Impact
— Low-Impact Ideas
— Not worth pursuing
Resources and snacks for the brain
https://toolbox.hyperisland.com/
https://www.workshopper.com/category/facilitation
Gamestorming by Dave Gray, Sunny Brown, James Macanufo
The Workshop Survival Guide by Rob Fitzpatrick & Devin Hunt.
The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters
Make Time for Ideation[Templates + AI Prompts] was originally published in UX Planet on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
