Brainstorming techniques compared
Last reviewed by The thinkdrop facilitation team
The main brainstorming techniques are brainwriting, SCAMPER, Crazy 8s, Six Thinking Hats, mind mapping, reverse brainstorming, starbursting and affinity mapping. Choose by what the session needs: brainwriting for volume, SCAMPER to improve an existing thing, Crazy 8s for fast divergence, reverse brainstorming when the team is stuck, and affinity mapping to make sense of the result.
Key facts
- Highest volume
- Brainwriting / 6-3-5
- Fastest
- Crazy 8s — 8 ideas in 8 minutes
- Best for improving something existing
- SCAMPER
- Best when the team is stuck
- Reverse brainstorming
- Best for making sense of output
- Affinity mapping
Step by step
- Brainwriting — Everyone writes independently, then builds on each other's cards. The default opening round for almost any session, and the highest-volume technique per minute.
- SCAMPER — Walk an existing product or process through seven prompts: Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate, Reverse. Useful precisely because it forces angles a team would not choose on its own.
- Crazy 8s — Eight ideas in eight minutes, one per minute. The time pressure is the point: it stops people polishing their first idea and forces them past the obvious three.
- Six Thinking Hats — The group deliberately adopts one mode at a time — facts, feelings, risks, benefits, creativity, process. Good for mixed groups where one person always plays critic and another always plays optimist.
- Mind mapping — Branch outwards from the central question. Best when the problem has structure worth exposing, weakest when you just need volume.
- Reverse brainstorming — Ask how to cause the problem instead of how to solve it. "How could we guarantee new users churn in week one?" unlocks a stuck room in about two minutes, and every answer inverts into a fix.
- Starbursting — Generate questions rather than answers — who, what, when, where, why, how. The right technique early, before the team has agreed what the problem even is.
- Affinity mapping — Not a generation technique but the convergence step: cluster the cards into named themes. Almost every session should end with it.
Pick by the failure you are trying to avoid
Techniques are not interchangeable. If the room is quiet, the problem is psychological safety — use silent brainwriting. If the ideas are all minor variations, the problem is anchoring — use Crazy 8s or reverse brainstorming. If you have 60 cards and no decision, the problem is convergence — use affinity mapping and dot voting.
Technique selection
| Technique | Use it when | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Brainwriting | You need volume and equal participation | 10–20 min |
| SCAMPER | Improving something that already exists | 30 min |
| Crazy 8s | The team keeps circling the obvious | 8 min |
| Six Thinking Hats | Mixed group with fixed roles | 45 min |
| Mind mapping | The problem has structure to expose | 20 min |
| Reverse brainstorming | The room is stuck | 15 min |
| Starbursting | The problem is not yet defined | 20 min |
| Affinity mapping | You have cards and need a decision | 15–20 min |
Frequently asked questions
What is the most effective brainstorming technique?
Brainwriting produces the most distinct ideas per minute, which is why it works as the opening round for nearly every session.
What is SCAMPER used for?
Improving something that already exists, by forcing seven specific angles on it.
When should you use reverse brainstorming?
When a group is stuck — asking how to cause the problem unlocks answers that invert directly into solutions.
How do you narrow down after brainstorming?
Cluster the cards into named themes with affinity mapping, then dot-vote and take the top three.