Alternative Worlds

Alternative worlds is a creative exercise that helps teams imagine bold, unexpected solutions by exploring “what if” scenarios.

By temporarily shifting the context or constraints, you can break free from assumptions and discover new possibilities.

It prompts teams to ask:

• What would this look like in a totally different world?
• How might our solution change if we flipped the rules?
• What can we learn from imagining extremes?

By suspending reality, alternative worlds unlocks creative thinking and encourages teams to challenge limitations while still solving real problems.

Best Practices

Make it playful but purposeful. The goal isn’t fantasy for its own sake. It’s to stretch your imagination to find new ideas.

Pick a strong prompt. Tie each “world” back to a clear design challenge or user need.

Create strong contrasts. Use words that exaggerate, reverse, or change the context.

Defer judgment. Go big and weird. You can evaluate feasibility later.

Look for useful insights. Afterward, ask: What parts of these wild ideas could work in the real world?

Basic Steps

1. Define your design challenge. Start with a real problem, need, or “How Might We” statement.

2. Choose an alternative world. Pick a fictional or extreme setting (e.g., “a world without money,” “where AI runs everything,” or “where everyone’s under 10 years old.”)

3. Ideate in that world. Ask: How would we solve this problem there? Sketch or list ideas freely.

4. Repeat with new worlds. Try 2–3 different scenarios to generate a variety of ideas.

5. Extract insights. Reflect: Which parts sparked something useful or unexpected? What could we apply or adapt to the real world?

Benefits

• Breaks habitual thinking
• Sparks bold, imaginative ideas
• Encourages risk-taking in a low-stakes way
• Reveals hidden assumptions about the problem
• Helps teams uncover new directions or hybrid solutions