Entrepreneurship · Week 3 of 18

Design Thinking II:
Ideation & Brainstorming

From one problem to eight possible solutions — in just eight minutes.

NKUHT · International Tourism Management Program · 2-hour session

Today's plan

One session, two halves

0:00–0:10

Welcome back. Quick recap of Week 2.

0:10–0:30

Divergent vs. convergent thinking.

0:30–1:00

The rules of Crazy Eights. How to converge afterward.

1:00–1:20

Activity: Crazy Eights (8 ideas in 8 minutes).

1:20–2:00

Convergence, sharing, and quick learning check.

Quick recap

Last week → This week

WEEK 2

You wrote a POV statement based on real interview evidence — a specific problem, not a guess.

WEEK 3

Now you generate as many possible solutions as you can, before judging any of them.

Key idea

Divergent then convergent

Most people jump straight to judging ideas. That kills creativity before it starts.

DIVERGENT (first)

Generate lots of ideas. Quantity over quality. No judging yet.

CONVERGENT (later)

Narrow down to the best 2-3 ideas, using clear criteria — not just gut feeling.

Activity rules

Crazy Eights

Fold a paper into 8 boxes. One idea per box. Eight minutes total.

  1. 01 Fold your paper into 8 equal sections.
  2. 02 Set a timer for 8 minutes — one minute per box.
  3. 03 Sketch or write one distinct idea per box, responding to your Week 2 POV statement.
  4. 04 No erasing, no judging — if you're stuck, riff on a totally different angle.
  5. 05 When time's up, stop — even mid-sketch.
Hour 2 · Activity

Crazy Eights

Goal: 8 ideas in 8 minutes, then pick your team's top 2 using clear criteria.

  1. 01 Work individually first — everyone does their own 8 boxes.
  2. 02 When time's up, lay all sketches out on the table.
  3. 03 As a team, agree on 2-3 criteria for a good idea (e.g., feasible, fits the POV, exciting to build).
  4. 04 Dot-vote using those criteria — not just personal preference.
  5. 05 Pick your team's top 2 ideas to bring to Week 4.
Activity timer

Work time

08:00

Tip: call out the box number every minute to keep pace.

Debrief · Ask the whole class

Talk about it

1. What idea surprised you the most — yours or a teammate's?

2. What criteria did your team use to narrow down? Would a stranger agree those are the right criteria?

3. Did anyone start judging ideas before the 8 minutes were up? What happened?

Quick learning check

Before we go — 3 short questions

1. The point of Crazy Eights is to...

2. Convergence should be based on...

3. If you freeze during Crazy Eights, the best move is to...

See you next week

Week 4 — Value Proposition & Customer Segments

Next week: build the Value Proposition Canvas and draft two contrasting customer personas.

Bring: your team's top 2 ideas from today.