IdeaWave
A card-based ideation game made for nonexpert designers to make the brainstorming process fun and effective.
About
IdeaWave is a card game developed for design students and employees new to brainstorming. The game is optimized for a team of 5, who take turns playing their cards. These cards are randomly distributed among the players from 4 decks, each serving a unique purpose.
The Problem
Based on our secondary research and ethnographic observations in a design class at Purdue, we identified the following challenges faced by design teams in the brainstorming process:
One Powerful Voice
All team members do not get an equal chance to speak up.
Evaluation Apprehension
The worry about being judged by others.
Free Riding
Unequal participation in the groups' task.
Finding the Market Gap
In Spring 2024, I served as an instructor for a 100-level undergraduate design course taken mostly by freshmen. I observed students did not know how to brainstorm. They fell victim to the challenges stated in the section above.
I wanted to solve this problem. But how?
We started off by conducting a thorough literature search to understand how the existing brainstorming techniques work and what brainstorming facilitation tools exist in the market. We found 3 broad categories of brainstorming tools:
Digital Tools
Card-Based Tools
Toolkits
Three clear gaps emerged from this analysis:
No intervention targets people who are new to brainstorming.
There does not exist a tool which teaches brainstorming.
The solutions do not make the process fun and interesting.
Understanding Users
We engaged in ethnographic observations in my design class to explore student collaboration during brainstorming sessions. Additionally, we conducted 4 interviews with experts to gain insights into their experiences and challenges with brainstorming. Our findings revealed:
Time constraint on brainstorming session boost idea generation.
Not all students actively contribute to brainstorming.
Managing brainstorming in large groups is tricky.
Design Process
We utilized the Crazy 8's technique to individually brainstorm eight potential solutions and unanimously decided to develop a card game. We then thoroughly studied different phases of game development, and analyzed the gameplay of various card games (including UNO and Exploding Kittens). I created the initial draft of our ideation game, which was subsequently iterated to refine the final gameplay.
Prototype Testing
Based on the initial gameplay, we created paper prototypes of the ideation cards and tested them with undergraduate and graduate design students at Purdue. The design insights gathered from these sessions were recorded and documented to iterate and refine the product.
Round 1 — Undergraduate Students
We conducted 2 separate sessions with students from my design class. After providing instructions on the basic gameplay, we assigned them a task and allowed them to explore the game independently. The students suggested:
Adding a "satisfying" ending to the game. Initially, the game was designed to conclude when the team members mutually decided to stop playing.
Implementing a structured system for taking turns. Initially, players took turns whenever they had an idea or critique to share.
Round 2 — Graduate Students
After incorporating feedback from undergraduate students, we tested the ideation cards with graduate students. This group pointed out:
Clarity issues in the instructions written on the cards.
Concerns about certain cards that seemed similar to others.
The Solution
Card Types
Idea Card (Yellow)
The active player proposes a new idea to the group. One per turn.
Yes Cards (Green)
Two types for responding to existing ideas:
- Yes, and — build upon and improve an idea
- Yes, but — offer a constructive critique
Wild Cards (Red)
Power plays that change the flow of the game:
- Random Pick — ask another player to speak on your behalf
- Blurt — propose an idea immediately, out of turn
- Skip — pass your turn
Brainy Card (Purple)
Draw a random card from the Brainstorming deck — either an Idea Booster (generation techniques) or Idea Sorter (theming and organization techniques).
How to Play
Up to 5 players gather around a table. Each player receives 1 Idea Card (Yellow), 4 Yes Cards (Green), and 2 Wild Cards (Red & Purple) — 7 cards total. Remaining cards form a draw pile. Icebreaker, Idea Booster, and Idea Sorter decks are placed face-down nearby.
Players begin with an Icebreaker Card activity to warm up and get comfortable sharing ideas without judgment.
Players agree on a direction (clockwise or anticlockwise) and take turns playing cards. After each turn, players draw to replenish their hand.
The game ends when any player has no cards remaining. The group then reviews and develops the best ideas generated during the session.
Reflection
IdeaWave was my first physical prototyping project. Initially, I had thought of coding an ideation device that could point toward team members in random so they could speak up. However, after desk research and ethnographic fieldwork, I changed the idea to a card game. Even the game went through a significant transformation where it evolved from a simple paper prototype to a complete product. My intention with the project was to make a marketable product which people would need. I still believe the game could be improved further through additional evaluation. It was fun to create a research-backed product.
