Ideation: KJ Technique
This week’s blog is different from the previous ones. In my past blogs, I’ve focused on products. Here, I will be talking about one of the most important ideation techniques in the UX/product world. This technique can also be used in other fields and it’s highly result-driven. There are lots of ideation techniques such as Mind Mapping, the 5 Why’s Technique, and Six Thinking Hats. Although time-consuming, I like this technique because it eliminates unconscious bias and gives every participant a proper chance to contribute. It can also be done in a remote/in-person setting with platforms like mural/miro making this possible.
The technique is like a hybrid between convergent and divergent thinking. It also opens a means for participants to check, iterate, and generate new ideas. When conducting a KJ session you want people from different backgrounds but it also works with individuals in the same field. Identify the specific problem you are trying to solve before the session. Also, during the session, ask probing questions to get the right solution to the problem.. Make sure the session doesn’t exceed an hour. And if it does suspend and reschedule so participants can maintain concentration levels.
This is a KJ session I facilitated for a product a group of Designers and I were walking on. We had designed a Low-Fidelity wireframe for an e-Commerce marketplace for home services. The team and I conducted a test and it didn’t go as positive as we expected. So we went into a KJ session using the data we had gotten from the interviews. I divided the session into 3 parts Insights, Grouping, and Final Takeaways. The first part consisted of key takeaways from the interview and things that required further testing. Then we grouped similar items together and labeled them. Finally, we voted for the most important groups and got our final takeaway. This session helped my team immensely in the next design we created, we identified the flaws in the design and ways to fix them.
Whether you are working in small or large groups, conference rooms, or remote you can’t go wrong with this technique. It saves time and helps participants see things from different perspectives. It also proposes a way for everyone to come to a consensus at the end of the session.
