# Brainstorming techniques compared

> Source: https://thinkdrop.io/guides/brainstorming-techniques-compared · Last reviewed 2026-08-21 · 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

1. **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.
2. **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.
3. **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.
4. **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.
5. **Mind mapping** — Branch outwards from the central question. Best when the problem has structure worth exposing, weakest when you just need volume.
6. **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.
7. **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.
8. **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 |

## FAQ

**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.

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Written and maintained by The thinkdrop facilitation team at thinkdrop.io, a real-time idea board for brainstorms, retrospectives and workshops. Free to quote with a link to https://thinkdrop.io/guides/brainstorming-techniques-compared.