5 Powerful Ideation Question Types to Supercharge Your UX Workshop: Unleash Your Team’s Creativity and Innovation

When it comes to brainstorming, ideation questions play a crucial role in generating a large number of ideas quickly. An effective ideation question can help participants to think outside the box, come up with unique and innovative ideas, and build upon each other’s ideas. In this article, we will discuss five types of ideation questions that can be used to kick-start a workshop.

1. Open-ended questions

Open-ended questions are those that do not have a specific answer and encourage participants to think creatively. These questions can be used to generate a large number of ideas and help participants to think outside the box. Examples of open-ended questions include:

• What are some new ways we can approach this problem?
• How might we solve this problem if we had unlimited resources?
• What if we took a completely different approach to this problem?

By using open-ended questions, participants can explore new ideas and think creatively without feeling restricted by predefined solutions.

2. Challenging assumptions

Challenging assumptions is a powerful way to break through mental barriers and generate innovative ideas. This type of ideation question encourages participants to question the status quo and come up with new and unconventional solutions. Examples of challenging assumption questions include:

• What if everything we know about this problem is wrong?
• How might we solve this problem if we remove all constraints?
• What if we approached this problem from a completely different perspective?

By challenging assumptions, participants are encouraged to think beyond their current mindset and consider new and unconventional solutions.

3. Empathy questions

Empathy questions encourage participants to put themselves in the shoes of the user or customer and think about their needs and desires. This type of ideation question helps participants to focus on the end user and generate ideas that are customer-centric. Examples of empathy questions include:

• What would our customers love to see in our product/service?
• How might we solve this problem in a way that benefits our customers the most?
• What if we focused on solving our customers’ biggest pain points?

By using empathy questions, participants can generate ideas that are not only innovative but also resonate with the needs and desires of the end user.

4. Hypothetical questions

Hypothetical questions are those that create a hypothetical scenario and ask participants to generate ideas based on that scenario. This type of ideation question encourages participants to think creatively and explore new possibilities. Examples of hypothetical questions include:

• What if we had a million dollars to solve this problem?
• How might we solve this problem if we were living in a different era?
• What if we had access to technology that doesn’t exist yet?

By using hypothetical questions, participants can generate ideas that are not limited by current resources, technology, or time.

5. Personal questions

Personal questions are those that encourage participants to share their personal experiences, insights, and perspectives. This type of ideation question can be used to build rapport among participants, encourage collaboration, and generate new and unique ideas. Examples of personal questions include:

• What is a personal experience that has shaped your perspective on this problem?
• How might we combine our personal experiences to come up with a unique solution?
• What if we each shared a personal story related to this problem?

By using personal questions, participants can build a deeper understanding of each other’s perspectives and generate ideas that are unique and collaborative.

Conclusion

Ideation questions are a powerful tool for generating innovative ideas in a workshop setting. By using open-ended questions, challenging assumptions, empathy questions, hypothetical questions, and personal questions, participants can explore new ideas, break through mental barriers, and generate a large number of ideas quickly. When designing ideation questions, it’s important to keep in mind the goals of the workshop and the needs of the participants. With the right ideation questions, participants can come up with new and innovative solutions to complex problems, ultimately leading to better outcomes for all stakeholders involved.

In addition to the five types of ideation questions discussed in this article, there are many other approaches that can be used to encourage creative thinking and generate new ideas. Some of these approaches include using visual aids, playing games, and incorporating humor into the ideation process. It’s important to experiment with different approaches and find what works best for the group of participants and the specific problem at hand.

Overall, ideation questions are a crucial component of any successful workshop or brainstorming session. By asking the right questions, facilitators can guide participants towards innovative and effective solutions. When designing ideation questions, it’s important to keep in mind the goals of the workshop, the needs of the participants, and the desired outcomes. With a well-designed set of ideation questions, participants can generate a large number of ideas, build on each other’s insights, and ultimately arrive at novel and effective solutions to complex problems.