Using Fantasy Storywriting And Acting For Developing Product Ideas

This article presents a new method for the development of product ideas, where the initial focus for development is not product ideas, but fantasy worlds. Based on a mental visualization session groups develop fantasy worlds through writing stories in circles. Some of these stories are acted out in scenario play. Phrases from these stories are then used as basis for idea development. This method gives interesting ideas that would be hard to come up with through traditional brainstorming. It helps to get a broader and deeper understanding of the design task and it strongly influences the team spirit and atmosphere. The method is presented through a case with industrial design students in Oslo, where the task was to develop new mouth hygiene products for the Norwegian company Jordan.