Creative Matrix

A creative matrix provides a framework for teams to generate a lot of wide-ranging ideas in a short amount of time.

The matrix’s columns are used as categories related to people (e.g., personas, market segments, problem statements) and rows are categories to enable solutions (e.g., technologies, environments, policies). The intersections of these categories are what’s used to generate ideas, providing structure to produce new and unusual ideas from all team members.

Best Practices

Keep your problem in view. Add your problem or “how might we” statement in the top-left cell of the matrix so teams remains focused on the problem at hand.

Use a maximum of 5×5 cells. This helps keeps the team out of the weeds without being too overwhelmed.

Fill every cell. Encourage teams to fill every cell of the grid for as many wide-ranging ideas as possible.

Draw pictures. Urge participants to draw pictures of the ideas to get a clearer picture (literally!) of the idea.

Basic Steps

1. Define your focus. What design challenge or problem statement needs fresh ideas?

2. Make a poster with a large grid/table. The maximum number of cells should be 5×5 (five columns, five rows).

3. Designate your columns and rows. Columns should contain categories related to people and rows should contain categories for enabling solutions.

4. Form teams. If you have a large number of participants, form teams and hand out grids. If you have a small team, use one grid.

5. Ideate using intersections of the grid. Introduce the topic and ask individuals or teams to generate as many ideas as possible (one idea per sticky note) within the cell at each intersection.

6. Limit the time to 15–20 minutes. Once the time has stopped, review each idea and group similar ideas within each grid.

Benefits

• Helps you generate many ideas in a short time frame
• Promotes out-of-the-box thinking
• Helps you think of new and uncommon ideas
• Invites participation and input from all team members