Think like a scientist to create more impactful ideas

Struggling to generate impactful ideas? 

Today, more than ever, the pressure is on to deliver better products, services and customer experiences, even with cost and resource constraints. 

But remember, creativity flourishes under constraints.

Here are some tips to elevate your ability to create and deliver.

And, crucially, how thinking like a scientist can help.

Why think like a scientist?

Scientists make educated guesses (hunches) and test them by forming hypotheses. Then, they build experiments to determine whether the hypothesis withstands scrutiny.

Such an approach helps you avoid built-in bias and groupthink, the foes of innovation.

But, importantly, it avoids wasting time and resources on ideas that have little value to the people who matter—your target users.

So, take your opportunities and form some hypotheses around the meaningful problem you are solving for users.

Next, you create simple ideas to test with your users, stakeholders and internal specialists. And you don't want one idea. You want several. Each one focused on exploring a particular aspect of your hypothesis. 

Use prototypes to test your hypotheses

An idea is just a thought. It's not a concrete solution. 

Prototypes help by making your idea a tangible thing that people can respond to.

With low-fidelity and low-cost (scrappy) prototypes (mock-ups, storyboards, digital wireframes, role-plays) you can explore your hunches to accelerate learning. 

Exposing your prototypes to user scrutiny lets you quickly determine whether your hunches hold water before you've invested too much time and money in them.

And the conversation with users goes something like this:

We think you are struggling with .....(hunch)

This idea may help because .... (share prototype to explore hypothesis).

We want to get your thoughts on this (open question).

Armed with a few prototypes and some open questions, you can zero in on the real problems to solve and hunt for flaws in your thinking. 

Prototypes transform your hunches into learning experiences that reveal hidden needs. When you show people a mockup, storyboard, or interactive experience, it brings those often unarticulated needs into focus as you get feedback from people:

'Ah, I hadn't thought about it that way, but I have found that....'

'That idea doesn't quite work for me because..., but if you were to....'

A rapid, low-cost, user-centred approach uncovers those 'aha' moments as long as you are open-minded to the flaws in your thinking.

It helps determine what people truly value. Importantly, it prevents wasted effort by quickly finding which ideas have legs.

After years of using this approach, we have seen it deliver ideas with much greater potential.

Complexity requires experimentation

Today's challenges are multi-faceted and multi-layered. You face complex customer journeys, competing external factors and tensions. Categories are being disrupted in unexpected ways.

Thinking like a scientist can help you cut through this complexity to create ideas with impact through simple prototypes and experimentation.