An ideation workshop produces many possible answers to one well-framed problem, then narrows them. Its quality depends almost entirely on the question it starts from.
Written as practical advice. Where a step rests on established research practice, the source is listed under References. Nothing here is a universal rule.
Five minutes on who has the problem and how you know. Ideas with no grounding drift.
Everyone sketches or writes in silence. Quantity first. This is where most of the good ideas come from.
Each person presents briefly. Questions to understand, no critique yet.
A second round, borrowing from what was shared.
Cluster similar ideas, then vote against the criteria you agreed, not on which is most exciting.
Pick a small number to prototype, and say what you would need to learn about each.
Weak
How might we improve the app?
Better
How might we help first-time users find their saved items?
Why. Broad questions get vague ideas. A specific one gives people something to solve.
Weak
How might we add a search bar to the home page?
Better
How might we help people get back to something they saw yesterday?
Why. The first contains its own answer and leaves nothing to ideate.
Senior designer note“A bad question cannot be rescued by good facilitation.”
Reference