Have you ever wondered how top product managers consistently come up with groundbreaking ideas?

In this first part of our PM series, the 3 practical techniques have helped me to transform ordinary brainstorming sessions into an epicentre of innovation.

Reverse Brainstorming:

• How to Use: Instead of asking, “How can we improve our product?” ask, “What could break our product?”. This reversal can unearth creative solutions.
• Example: When enhancing an e-learning platform, we reframed our approach from ‘How to speed up learning’ to ‘What slows down learning?’. This led us to create a day-wise learning structure with teaser questions and bite-sized content tailored to each topic’s length.
• Result: Course completion rates soared by approximately 30%.

Problem-Solution Mapping:

• How to Use: Create a visual map linking problems to potential solutions. This method ensures that brainstorming sessions are targeted and efficient.
• Example: In the same e-learning platform revamp, we mapped challenges in user engagement and linked them to potential solutions, like incorporating interactive quizzes and real-time scoring and feedback.
• Result: We saw a 20% improvement in user engagement.

Storyboarding:

• How to Use: Visualize the user’s journey from start to finish. This technique aids in grasping the user’s emotional and practical needs.
• Example: On a social platform, guiding users to a new feature was a challenge. Storyboarding helped us identify the optimal point in the user journey to introduce the feature, leading to enhanced usage.
• Result: Feature usage spiked to nearly 40% in the first quarter.

These techniques have revolutionized my approach to ideation. How are you conducting brainstorming sessions? I would love to hear your stories.

Next up, PM Series II: Part 2 – Validating Product Concepts – Stay tuned for more insights!

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