Matrix Storm – Brainstorming / Creativity Method

Engarde! Thou dost protect thy own with a plastic orb-shield of food weilding +1. Be very afraid!

I sometimes assign weird actions to myself for some reason and this was one of those instances.  “Combine household items and brainstorm 5 new products.”  Sounded fun so I went ahead and gave it a shot!

This is a brainstorming / creativity / design method I came up with on the fly… not sure if it exists already, but it just popped into my head so I assume it’s new.  I’ve decided to call it the “Matrix Storm”.  Sorry, no Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne here, but here goes:

1. Create a list of 28 items (e.g. – shoes, bowl, fork, ball, hat, etc.)
2. Randomly arrange the list into 4 columns, 7 rows deep
3. Write down and number 5 blank areas on the same or another sheet of paper
4. Randomly pick 3 matrix locations without looking at your list (e.g. – Column 3, Row 2 –> C3:R2, C1:R7, C4:R1, etc.) for each of the 5 blank areas (I went with column/row instead of row/column… no reason in particular)
5. When done, use the matrix location numbers to find the item from the matrix and write it down for each matrix location you randomly picked
6. Combine the items picked (or features thereof) into some type of new product

For example, here’s what I came up with:

#1) plate / bowl / toothpaste
thoughts: bowls hold less-viscous stuff inside / plates are flat
products: half-bowl plate /// bowl that collapses into a plate

#2) shoes / pots / belt
thoughts: shoes have laces, belts hold pants up and are adjustable
products: some form of flexible shoe-lace cover (I’ve come to realize this exists already!)

#3) Infant door-know protector / spoon / cup
thoughts: door-knob protector completely covers the knob and prevents movement by child / spoons are held to move food
products: some form of clam-shell / sleeve that gently covers a child’s spoon-wielding hand to help train them to eat with utensils

#4) socks / knife / plumbing
thoughts: socks are flexible and protective / knives are handy and accessible / plumbing moves liquid
products: temporary plumbing sock (patch when pipes are damaged) /// hunting socks with external knife pocket

#5) squeegee / drying rack / sponge
thoughts: 3 random choices & they are all dish/drying related… weird! Drying rack pools water that doesn’t dry quickly
products: drying rack with squeegee feature on drip pan to move water immediately or maybe just a ramped base to ‘persuade’ water to head for the sink

I don’t pretend to think that these ideas are all that great, but I was completely amazed at just how quickly and easily the ideas just kind of came together.  This would seem to indicate to me that if I put a bit more time and effort into the task that I would have come up with some order-of-magnitude-greater ideas.  Time and trial will tell, I suppose, but I still found this exercise to be useful, fun, and revealing.

Give it a shot!

PS) I really kind of want the drying rack squeegee/ramp… :)