I started this assignment on Friday and each day continued to add ideas to the mind map and cross-product list. I felt like each day I had a completely different mind-set and thus, spreading it out allowed me to reach a lot more variation in my ideas.
Step 1: Get laughing
Friday- Watched the movie Bridesmaids
Saturday- Played yard games with friends
Sunday- Did some improv games! (similar to Dr. Know it all, but did not necessarily answer a question, just made a goofy story)
Step 2: Get brainstorming
Friday-Started a mind map (sink/basin theme)
Saturday-Continued mind mapping and started a cross-products list. To do this I searched for a list of random products online and then used them with the sink/basin theme to come up with comical products. I found that this technique worked very well to think of silly ideas.
Sunday-Made association map to finish brainstorming and used it to help finish the mind map and cross-product list.
Final Mind Map-
I do not think I used the mind map as intended. Some of the branches ended up in different themes, but most of them were very closely related to the sink/basin theme. I will definitely work on my mind mapping in the future to help find the strange connections. In addition, it was really hard for me to not elaborate the new themes into product ideas versus continue branching out.
A few interesting themes I discovered were food and entertainment. The food theme was associated through the appearance of a sink looking like a bowl and entertainment branched off from the idea of kids hating getting ready for bed and finding a way to change that.
Step 3: Silly ideas are GOOD!
Final Cross-products List-
This allowed for some very fun combinations that could have never come about otherwise. One that I particularly liked was the drain speaker. When thinking about a sink/basin and relating it to a speaker I realized that a drain and speaker both looked similar in their appearance. Even though normally speakers and water do not tend to be put together, this forced combination made an interesting product.
Final Association Map-
I wish I would have done this map first. I did not realize all of the sink/basin areas I was missing until the end. For one thing, until I made this map I did not even think about sinks not in the bathroom or kitchen. Branching out to the areas like the garage and laundry room made many more connections surface.
List of 10 Silly Ideas for sink/basin theme (no particular order):
- IDEA 1: Snow shovel spatula/food server- for those Minnesota winter-lovers
- IDEA 2: Toothbrush shoe- a comical toothbrush holder
- IDEA 3: Urinal sink- Only to wash hands
- IDEA 4: Speaker drain plug-To confuse people when the drain is actually plugged by making gurgling noises
- IDEA 5: Chocolate bar soap- Individual soap chunks to reduce spread of germs
- IDEA 6: Spoon make-up spreader- Spread around your foundation with ease
- IDEA 7: Bathroom clock- 'The Potty Clock', can time your bathroom tasks to make sure you stay on time
- IDEA 8: Sink sheet- Plastic coating in sink to prevent stains (dishwasher-safe)
- IDEA 9: Track sink- Can move your sink around to easily share with siblings
- IDEA 10: Sea sponges- Counter-top toys to soak up water splashed on counter when washing hands
I love reading and looking through all your maps. The doodles and images are great! The potty time clock was my favorite because everyone needs that! I also thought of a urinal sink, but called it Duchamp... the track sink seems useful, but it would be interesting to figure out how to make that happen in practice. I imagine that plastic tube-y stuff we played with as kids that expanded and retracted, like a bendable straw. Maybe a pipe like that would help you move it around?
Hi Sarah,
I like that you did several maps in different stages and filled all of them with lots of detail. I also employed the strategy of working on the maps over a few days, but I wasn't able to get mine to the same level of detail that you did. Your drawings help explain your ideas - I'm glad you did them, since the limited text descriptions made some of the ideas confusing. I think a spatula or other kitchen utensil that looks like a mini snow shovel sounds really cute!
I completely agree that the mind-map should be filled out, or redone over a period of a couple days. Sometimes you are just in a different mood and can come up with different things from day-to-day. That's one of the advantages to a digital mind-map, though it doesn't have nearly the flexibility as paper. I'm curious as to how you came up with a random list of products? The best way I could think of was going to amazon and seeing their 'daily deals' or something of the like. Good work, you have a great starting point for some really good ideas.