In our Design Thinking and Business Model Innovation workshops, we use trigger questions to generate new ideas through a perspective change. Below you find an excerpt of our questions for inspiration. The first step is to generate as many ideas as possible.
This is how you proceed:
First, each workshop participant tries to come up with as many ideas as possible for one question within one minute. Then each participant briefly presents their ideas to their team colleagues on the whiteboard. Then the team brainstorms together to see if there are any more ideas. If not, move on to the next question.
Questions to shift your perspective
What would Google do? How would Google address our problem? (Google always tries to be more proactive, to anticipate what the user wants to do next in a given context).
What would Amazon do? (Amazon tries to serve the need for convenience better than any other company in the world. How can we make it as convenient as possible for our target group to use our offer?)
What would Nespresso do? (proportion the solution, “force” repeat purchases).
What would Starbucks do ? (create quality time, bonus system)
What would Spotify do? (individualise the offer, personal playlist, offer a flat rate, create a subscription model)
What would Weight-Watchers do? (create a community; introduce a points system, maybe use a competition)
What would Apple do? (try to log customers in (example iTunes) to create the highest possible hurdles for a change, create switching costs, win by design)
What would a child do / How would a child approach our problem?
What could a solution look like if money plays a small role?
What are megatrends that affect our question?
Who are the current top 5 providers for our problem? How do their offers differ? Where are there opportunities to differentiate?
What would Telekom do? (e.g. sell a 24-month contract).
How could we offer a free solution?
What would Airbnb do? (create a platform, use user-generated content).
Who in the world has already solved a problem similar to ours, but in a different context?
How would a startup try to kill our business?
