Ideation techniques

Explain in your own words what brainstorming is and write down two basic rules that a group must follow for it to work well.

Explain the brainstorming rule 'quantity over quality': why unusual ideas are also written down and what can come out of them later.

Carry out a short brainstorming session: write down at least five different proposals for reducing noise in the school canteen. Then choose the one that seems most feasible to you and justify your choice.

Explain what a mind map is, how it is organised, and what it is used for in a technology project.

In a mind map, what is the difference between a main branch and a sub-branch? Explain it with an example using 'bicycle' as the central topic.

How do brainstorming and mind mapping differ as ideation techniques? State at which point in the project you would use each one and why.

Explain what a sketch is and what minimum elements it must include so that another person can understand it without you being present (views, notes, approximate proportions).

Explain the difference between a sketch and a technical drawing, and explain why quick freehand sketches are mainly used in the ideation stage.

Describe in words the sketch for a folding wall coat rack: which views you would draw (front elevation, side elevation, mechanism detail) and what explanatory notes you would add.

Your group has twenty ideas and needs to narrow them down to two. Propose three selection criteria (feasibility, cost, impact...) and apply them to three ideas you have made up, showing the final decision.

The SCAMPER technique suggests verbs to transform an object: substitute, combine, adapt, modify, put to another use, eliminate, and reverse. Apply two of them to a school chair and describe the two resulting ideas.

A 4th-year ESO project team must design a system to prevent workshop doors from slamming violently due to draughts. Five minutes after starting, a team member proposes: "Let's buy a commercial hydraulic piston for 35,00 € and screw it to the top; it's an idea that is guaranteed to work, so let's not waste time looking for more alternatives".

1. a) Technically refute the stance of settling for the first viable solution. Analyse two design risks that the team ignores by failing to conduct a divergence phase (consider aspects such as cost, maintenance, mechanical overload on the hinges, and the pedagogical value of workshop manufacturing).
2. b) Propose two conceptually distinct alternative solutions based on different physical principles (for example, homemade pneumatic damping, pulley counterweight with friction brake, or progressive magnetic retention).
3. c) Design a decision matrix with three weighted criteria (for example: economic cost, workshop manufacturing complexity, and durability) and numerically evaluate the three proposals to justify which one should actually be built.