tools

Ethnography

Ethnography   One of the problems with market research is that asking people questions about their preferences, wishes and needs may not give the full picture. For many reasons people often say something different to how they actually behave. For this reason a useful addition to the market research toolkit is ethnography. This is a

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Mind-Mapping

Mind-mapping is a powerful tool to help explore problems and assist search for patterns and connections. You can find a brief explanation here   And more details here.

5 whys

5 whys This simple but powerful tool can help strip away the apparent problem to get through to the root problem which is the one we need to solve.

How to statements

     How to statements     A useful tool in creative problem solving is the ‘how to’ statement which provides a powerful way of reframing the problem. For example, consider the problem of a city council concerned with the amount of graffiti being scrawled on bridges, walls, trains and other surfaces. It regularly receives

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Metaphor

Metaphor is a powerful tool for generating fresh insights in creative problem-solving.  It helps us ‘get out of the box’ in our thinking and offers new perspectives on problems we are trying to solve. See also analogy, brainstorming  

Analogies

Analogies offer a powerful way to generate new ideas based on linking similar worlds or properties to give fresh a fresh perspective. See also levels of abstraction, DOME project

Levels of abstraction

Levels of abstraction This is a tool to help identify new insights and solutions by searching for analagous problems in other fields. See also analogies, DOME project, cause and effect diagram, and frequency chart

Responsible innovation framework

This framework has been developed by Richard Owen and colleagues and is designed to enable discussion and exploration around the key theme of responsible innovation.