Brainstorming

Definition

Brainstorming is a common technique during which people collaborate to rapidly and informally produce and then prune a list of possible solutions to some problem.

Discussion

TBD

Objectives

The typical objectives of brainstorming are to:

• Rapidly develop a large and broad list of potential work items (e.g., stakeholders, application objectives, requirements, architectural mechanisms, and design decisions).
• Encourage participation by all stakeholders present.
• Enable stakeholders to build their suggestions on previous suggestions.
• Encourage “out-of-the-box” thinking without normal constraints.

Preconditions

Brainstorming can typically begin when the following preconditions hold:

• TBD

Completion Criteria

Brainstorming is typically complete if the following postconditions hold:

• No one can think of any more potential items to add to the list.

Steps

During brainstorming, various rolls typically perform the following steps in a parallel manner:

• Preparation:
  • Decide on the attendees (stakeholders or domain experts).
  • Decide on a location for the meeting (e.g., meeting room).
  • Decide on the meeting facilitator role.
  • Schedule the meeting.
  • Obtain resources (e.g., large index cards or sticky notes for informally documenting ideas, large white board or cork board with push pins to hold the notes).
  • Explain the meeting rules to the attendees.
• Idea Generation:
  • Stakeholders and domain experts list their ideas on large index cards.
  • Stakeholders and domain experts state their ideas out loud as they tape them to the white board.
• Idea Consolidation:
  • Group related cards.
  • Tape ideas to white board.

Work Products

Brainstroming typically results in the following work products:

• Informal lists of potential items.

Limitations

Brainstorming is typically subject to the following limitations:

• TBD

Guidelines

• List all possibilities without stopping to discuss their feasibility or appropriateness.
• Let imaginations soar.
• Avoid all criticism during the idea generation phase.
• The person that comes up with the idea should be the one to initially document it because:
  • This way, the idea is documented in the person’s own words.
  • The originator of the idea can ensure that it is not lost in the commotion of everyone shouting out ideas.
  • Time is not lost in the creative process of comming up with ideas, which might happen if only a single person was writting everything down.
• Most idea generating sessions last at least an hour, but probably no more than 3 hours because everyone will be drained from the experience and run out of ideas if they go too long.
• The facilitator should ensure that everyone contributes and that noone dominates the meeting.
• The absence of any strange and crazy ideas typically is a symptom that the participants were not thinking “out of the box” enough.