Conducting Brainstorming Sessions
All software development projects demand high degrees of collaboration but Business Dashboards in particular span so many domains within an organization that strong group vision is an absolute must. Dashboards are so user-centric that without contribution by members of the various intended audiences during the design phase, the resulting software is an annoyance at best and useless at worst.
How best to manage the chaos that may come during the envisioning phase for a far-flung dashboarding project? I still say that we must start the requirements phase with some wide-open brainstorming sessions.
In this post, we’ll list some resources for conducting brainstorming session. Before getting to the various aides and suggestions, however, keep in mind that not all people brainstorm in the same manner. It’s our responsibilty to recognize this and facilitate what works best for each particular member of the team.
Here’s a favorite picture of mine. It’s a shot of Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer doing some brainstorming. Steve is taking his typical charge-ahead approach. His hands are flying and his look intense. Bill is in thinking mode and has his eyes closed.
Brainstorming Ideas and Resources
- Five Brainstorming Tools in Microsoft Visio
- U.S. Army Brainstorming Session Guidelines
- Idea Generation Tools: Brainstorming, Affinity Grouping and Multivoting
- 7 Steps for Brainstorming
- Simple Steps for Classic Brainstorming
- Brainstorming Techniques Resource Center
Feel free to add to this list.
Another good way to brainstorm in terms of technology and business solutions is to look through vendor white papers. Try this multi-vendor business intelligence white paper collection.
Tags: Dashboard Design, Business Software Requirements Gathering, Brainstorming sessions for dashboards
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