Define then ideate

In the Define mode you determine the specific meaningful challenge to take on, and in the Ideate stage you focus on generating solutions to address that challenge.

A well-scoped and articulated point-of-view will lead you into ideation in a very natural way. In fact, it is a great litmus test of your point-of-view to see if brainstorming topics fall out your POV.

A great transition step to take is to create a list of “How-Might-We?” brainstorming topics that flow from your problem statement. These brainstorming topics typically are subsets of the entire problem, focusing on different aspects of the challenge.

Then when you move into ideation you can select different topics, and try out a few to find the sweet spot of where the group can really churn out compelling ideas.