Idea evaluation: welcome to the Matrix
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What happens when you have too many good ideas?
How do you whittle them down to make sure you’re working on something which is going to get the job done and tick every box on the brief?
Y’alls need some tactics for idea evaluation. Lucky for you, I have three stashed away.
Let’s talk about ‘the matrix’ and other idea evaluation methods…
Dismemberment
Usually, dismemberment involves saws and axes. This particular method is far less messy and uses drills. More specifically, a ‘drill-down’ technique.
Start by making a mind map (you can find my ‘word vomit’ technique here).
For the best results, make every ‘branch’ of your mind map a different colour, so you can easily identify different topic clusters.
When you’ve exhausted your supply of ideas, you’ll need to start dismembering your mind map.
Chop it up into topic clusters of about three ideas each. Be sure to keep your clusters in specific groupings, like format or theme.
Keep chopping them down, narrowing in on the most important idea in each cluster until you have something you’re happy to work with. Then go forth!
Crush it (with stress)
Are you lucky enough to be working as part of a team? Great, let’s use them.
Make a shortlist and send it off to your colleagues with explicit instructions to tear each idea apart.
Using their outside perspective, your colleagues will find it easier to dig out the holes, snags, and shit bits. It’s too easy for us to get attached to a particular idea and be blinded to how shite it really is, so getting external eyes on your potentials can eliminate this bias and make use of more diverse opinions and experience.
Once you’ve done this, you can come back with a better idea, confident you’ve got something rock solid.
Use the matrix
An idea matrix, that is.
Get yourself a nice clean spreadsheet, put all the brief deliverables down one axis and a score out of five along the other. Like so…
Image via BCIT
Now it’s just a simple process of ranking your ideas according to how well they score against each element of the brief.
This makes it easy to see which ideas you’re clinging to because you like them, and which represent the best creative response.
Bosh.