Shortlisting your ideas
WHAT IT INVOLVES: Taking all the ideas from your ideation session and identifying which to pursue, and which to park.
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WHY: Ideation usually produces a lot of ideas and you normally can’t progress all of them!
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HOW:
You can shortlist from lots of ideas down to the few you want to take forward in all sorts of ways. From letting the 'boss' decide, to having a simple vote. There's one great approach to capturing a whole group's perspective and avoiding the trap of going with the idea that seems 'easiest' or is the preference of the 'loudest voices in the room’.
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WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
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Blank wall
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Post-it notes
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Small stickers
Step 1: Display your ideas
Stick the ideas up on a wall and give each idea a number (from 1 onwards).
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Step 2: Calculate the number of votes to allocate
Determine how times each participant will be allowed to vote by using the following formula:
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(2.5 x number of ideas) ÷ number of participants = number of votes per particpant
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Example
You have a 15 ideas stuck up on the wall, and there are 6 people participating in the session. To determine how many votes each person has allocated, we'll use the above formula.
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(2.5 x 15) ÷ 6 = 6.75
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We'll round that up to the nearest number, so that means each participant can vote 7 times.
Step 3: Distribute stickers for voting
Now that you've worked out the number of votes each participant has, provide that same number of stickers to each person. In this example, each participant receives 7 stickers for voting.
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Step 4: Voting time!
Ask each participant to place a sticker on the ideas they would like to shortlist until they have run out of votes. They should choose the ideas they think best solve the challenge. Tell them not to overthink it and go with their gut!
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If we continue with our example, there should be 42 stickers on the wall when we're done (6 participants with 7 stickers each!).
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In the below example, we've colour-coded each participant's votes so you can see how they have been allocated, but it isn't necessary to differentiate by participant.
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Step 3: Identify your shortlisted ideas
The idea with the most stickers is the one your group thinks best solves the challenge and represents the best opportunity for innovation. ​Remember, you can shortlist as many ideas as you like but you may only have capacity to consider one idea, or you might have room to consider a few more!
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Just because people vote for an idea doesn't mean it will work - you should experiment with your ideas to see if your customers value them as much as you do!​
Top Tip
Keep a record of all the ideas - they might come in handy in the future, especially when you are experimenting. ​
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Remember - just because it is voted the best idea doesn’t always mean it will work. You need to experiment!
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Remember to refer back to your Challenge Statement and Mission Statement, and always make sure your idea works for your customer and speaks to your JTBD.