The Know Brainer technique is an approach to guide innovation processes through the use of cards to provoke responses. The card set consists of material to support four phases of innovation development. These contain questions, pictures, nouns, verbs, and quotes that have been carefully selected to trigger ideas.
The four phases are: (1) Investigate: The cards assist the user in gaining a better understanding of the problem. Questions that the cards may present include, ‘What is needed/wanted/wished for?’ or ‘If people had unlimited money and resources, what might be done?’. (2) Create: These cards support the creation of ideas. Questions that they may present include, ‘What might be changed or improved?’ or ‘If people had unlimited money and resources, what might be done?’. (3) Evaluate: In this phase, the cards assist with the evaluation of solutions by identifying their possible strengths and weaknesses. Questions that the cards may present could include, ‘What are the evaluation criteria and how should they be prioritised?’, ‘Which solutions might address the key goals, challenges, or problems?, or ‘What are the potential risks, costs, or consequences of not implementing a solution?’. (4) Activate: Finally, the cards used during this phase support the activation of plans through planning the steps to implement the idea.
Using ‘Know Brainer’
Step 1: The ‘Know Brainer’ card deck and templates are obtained. The process is undertaken either as an individual or in the context of a group.
Step 2: Instructions included with the card deck are adhered to and the four phases are undertaken.
Step 3: The outcomes of the technique are used to implement an idea generated during the process.
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