Ideation Workshops 💡 Prompts

SUMMARY

Purpose: Ideation workshops allow design and product teams to collaboratively explore divergent solutions before narrowing in on a direction.

Design Thinking Phase: Ideate

Time: 60–90 min session + 1–2 hours synthesis

Difficulty: ⭐⭐

When to use:You're stuck with incremental ideas and need fresh perspectives.Cross-functional alignment is needed on potential product solutions.You’re preparing for a design sprint or roadmap planning cycle.

What it is

Ideation workshops are structured collaboration sessions where designers, researchers, developers, and stakeholders rapidly generate ideas together in response to a defined problem. The aim is to go wide — quantity over perfection — before refining and converging on viable paths forward.

📺 Video by NNgroup. Embedded for educational reference.

Why it matters

Ideation workshops push teams beyond default assumptions. When run well, they create a shared understanding of opportunities and a richer solution space. Teams build alignment early, reduce rework later, and encourage creative confidence across disciplines. They’re especially useful in cross-functional settings where design, engineering, and product leadership converge on complex challenges.

When to use

• After foundational research has revealed unmet or ambiguous user needs
• During product discovery, to generate concepts before prototyping
• Before a roadmap presentation when stakeholder input is crucial

Benefits

• Rich Insights: Helps uncover user needs that aren’t visible in metrics.
• Flexibility: Works across various project types and timelines.
• User Empathy: Deepens understanding of behaviours and motivations.

How to use it

Here’s a simplified facilitation roadmap:

• 1. Set a Clear Problem Statement: Ensure the framing is human-centred and challenge-driven (e.g., “How might we improve onboarding for users with limited digital literacy?”).
• 2. Prep Materials: Include personas, journey maps, and prior insights to ground thinking. Use tools like FigJam, Miro, or Google Jamboard.
• 3. Select Ideation Techniques: Use structured activities like Crazy 8s, SCAMPER, or “Worst Idea First” to loosen creative rigidity.
• 4. Encourage Individual and Group Thinking: Alternate between solo ideation time and group sharing to balance creative styles.
• 5. Cluster Ideas by Themes: Group similar solutions and label them together (e.g., “onboarding shortcuts”, “peer support”, “progressive guidance”).
• 6. Quick Prioritisation: Use voting dots, 2x2 matrices, or Kano models to prioritise top directions.
• 7. Debrief and Next Steps: Document in a shared workspace and agree on what ideas move to concepting or validation.

Example Output

Fictional Project: Redesigning finance app onboarding for gig workers.

• Problem Framing: “How might we reduce drop-off for first-time users managing multiple income sources?”
• Clustered Themes:
  • “Multiple Accounts View” ideas
  • “Earning History Snapshot” concepts
  • “Tax Tips Micro-Coaching” features
• Top Ideas Selected for Prototyping:
  • A progressive Q&A setup flow triggered by behaviour
  • An adaptive financial dashboard filtered by income type
  • Contextual tax help tips based on entered data

Common Pitfalls

• Jumping to Solutions Too Early: Teams often want to “get to the build.” Stick with divergent thinking long enough to explore widely.
• Low Psychological Safety: If people feel judged, ideas shrink. Frame the session as judgment-free exploration and model openness.
• No Post-Workshop Follow-through: Documenting is not enough — assign clear next steps and owners. Otherwise, ideas die on whiteboards.

10 Design-Ready AI Prompts for Ideation Workshops – UX/UI Edition

How These Prompts Work (C.S.I.R. Framework)

Each of the templates below follows the C.S.I.R. method — a proven structure for writing clear, effective prompts that get better results from ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, or any other LLM.

C.S.I.R. stands for:

• Context: Who you are and the UX situation you're working in
• Specific Info: Key design inputs, tasks, or constraints the AI should consider
• Intent: What you want the AI to help you achieve
• Response Format: The structure or format you want the AI to return (e.g. checklist, table, journey map)

Level up your career with smarter AI prompts.Get templates used by UX leaders — no guesswork, just results.Design faster, research smarter, and ship with confidence.First one’s free. Unlock all 10 by becoming a member.

Prompt Template 1: “Generate Workshop Idea Clusters from Raw Input:”

Generate Workshop Idea Clusters from Raw Input:

Context: You are a UX facilitator reviewing ideation workshop outputs for a web-based productivity tool.  
Specific Info: The team shared 50 Post-it notes (digitally), ranging from UI enhancements to behavioural nudges.  
Intent: Help cluster the ideas into meaningful themes to spot patterns and recommend focus areas.  
Response Format: Return a list of 4–7 thematic groupings with sample ideas under each, and suggest one direction for further exploration.

Ask any clarifying questions about the product or user goals if needed.

Prompt Template 2: “Run a SCAMPER Technique on a Key Flow:”

Run a SCAMPER Technique on a Key Flow:

Context: You are a design strategist exploring improvements to the onboarding flow of a mobile health tracking app.  
Specific Info: The flow includes 5 screens introducing core features (e.g., symptom logging, medication tracking).  
Intent: Apply SCAMPER to reimagine each screen's interaction or content via Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate, Rearrange.  
Response Format: Return a table showing the SCAMPER method applied to each screen, and highlight the 2 most promising ideas.

Prompt for more information if any screen’s purpose is unclear.

Prompt Template 3: “Draft Inclusive Design Prompts for Workshop Activities:”

Draft Inclusive Design Prompts for Workshop Activities:

Context: You’re facilitating a co-creation session focused on accessibility improvements for an enterprise dashboard.  
Specific Info: Participants include designers, engineers, and a user panel with vision and mobility impairments.  
Intent: Generate 5 creative and inclusive design activity prompts that encourage empathy and tackle usability gaps.  
Response Format: Return a bulleted list of workshop activities, each with title, time estimate, and desired outcome.

If user scenarios are missing, request them to customise the prompts further.

Prompt Template 4: “Summarise Key Themes from Rapid Ideation Exercise:”

Summarise Key Themes from Rapid Ideation Exercise:

Context: You are a UX researcher capturing notes from a Crazy 8s ideation session on financial goal-setting features.  
Specific Info: Participants included product managers, designers, and marketers. 8 sketches each were generated.  
Intent: Identify recurring themes and any outlier ideas that sparked strong discussion.  
Response Format: Provide 3–5 themes with representative quotes or concepts, and note any ideas flagged for testing or prototyping.

If any sketch content is unclear, ask the note-taker for clarifications.

Prompt Template 5: “Critique Ideas from a Kano Perspective:”

Critique Ideas from a Kano Perspective:

Context: You’re a product designer filtering top workshop ideas for a banking app redesign.  
Specific Info: Ideas range from biometric login options to goal-based savings jars and legacy feature upgrades.  
Intent: Help classify each idea as Basic Expectation, Performance Driver, or Delightful Surprise.  
Response Format: Return a prioritised table with idea name, Kano category, rationale, and initial user impact estimate.

Ask about existing feature baselines if needed to calibrate expectations.

Prompt Template 6: “Generate ‘How Might We’ Statements from Insights:”

Generate ‘How Might We’ Statements from Insights:

Context: You are running a design thinking workshop on improving digital productivity for remote teams.  
Specific Info: Insights include: "Users mistrust automation", "Team norms clash across cultures", "Context switching derails focus".  
Intent: Rewrite each insight into an opportunity-driven “How Might We” prompt for ideation.  
Response Format: List each HMW along with the root insight that inspired it.

Request clarification if any insight appears too vague or overlapping.

Prompt Template 7: “Design a Warm-up Icebreaker That Anchors the Problem Space:”

Design a Warm-up Icebreaker That Anchors the Problem Space:

Context: You're about to kick off a hybrid ideation workshop on education tech for adult learners.  
Specific Info: Attendees aren’t familiar with user research yet; the space includes flexible schedules, digital fatigue, and motivation barriers.  
Intent: Craft an energising activity to connect participants to real user challenges and engage early.  
Response Format: Suggest 1–2 creative warm-ups (5–10 minutes each) with materials needed and facilitation notes.

If user personas or narratives are missing, recommend fictional ones.

Prompt Template 8: “Balance Feasibility vs. Novelty Across Ideas Bank:”

Balance Feasibility vs. Novelty Across Ideas Bank:

Context: You’re a design lead narrowing 40+ ideas generated from a multi-team ideation sprint.  
Specific Info: Time-to-prototype is constrained, but innovation is expected by leadership.  
Intent: Help compare ideas to find options that balance near-term feasibility with fresh thinking.  
Response Format: Return a matrix with feasibility on one axis, novelty on the other. Classify each idea and recommend 2 to pursue further.

Clarify constraints around tech stack or budget if prioritisation remains unclear.

Prompt Template 9: “Roleplay as a Challenger for Each Idea Cluster:”

Roleplay as a Challenger for Each Idea Cluster:

Context: You’re stress-testing initial ideas from a co-creation session for a wellbeing app.  
Specific Info: Idea themes include community engagement, gamified journaling, and nudging daily routines.  
Intent: Play devil’s advocate — challenge assumptions or overlooked risks in each cluster.  
Response Format: List idea clusters, then critique each with potential friction points and edge-case user impacts.

Ask if edge personas are available to include diverse perspectives.

Prompt Template 10: “Synthesize Ideas Into Sprint-ready Problem Statements:”

Synthesize Ideas Into Sprint-ready Problem Statements:

Context: You are preparing for a 5-day design sprint around digital onboarding for new remote hires.  
Specific Info: Top ideas involve walkthrough overlays, asynchronous video intros, and doc search UX.  
Intent: Convert the strongest insights into clear problem statements aligned with sprint goals.  
Response Format: Deliver a list of 3–5 concise problem statements with tags for desirability, viability, and feasibility.

Request clarification if sprint team roles or goals are missing.

Recommended Tools

• Miro – Digital whiteboarding for collaborative ideation
• FigJam – Lightweight visual thinking space by Figma
• ChatGPT – Helps structure, reframe, and expand ideas pre- or post-workshop
• Whimsical – Fast UI diagramming during workshops

Learn More

• NNGroup: UX Research & Design Articles
• Interaction Design Foundation – Topics
• Google Design Sprint Kit