Rapid brainstorm
This topic explains how to run a rapid brainstorm session. The session quickly generates a backlog of experiment ideas tied to your organization’s business goals. It draws on perspectives from cross-functional teams.
Without a rapid brainstorm: Experiment ideas trickle in from individual contributors or a single team. The backlog stays thin, ideas are disconnected from business goals, and teams struggle to justify what they test and why.
With a rapid brainstorm: A facilitated session generates a large, diverse pool of ideas in under an hour. Each idea traces back to a business goal. Cross-functional input surfaces opportunities that siloed teams miss. The team walks away with a prioritized shortlist ready to move into test planning.
Overview
A rapid brainstorm is a structured ideation session for five to fifteen participants from diverse roles. The goal is quantity first. Generate as many experiment ideas as possible against a defined set of business goals. Then cluster and prioritize the ideas before the session ends.
A successful session produces a categorized idea backlog, a top-ten shortlist, and a clear path to the next step in the experimentation workflow.
Focus on no more than three to five business goals per session to maintain quality and keep ideas actionable.
Before the session
Preparation determines the quality of ideas the group generates. Incomplete preparation leads to unfocused discussion and ideas that are hard to prioritize afterward.
Set the scope
Confirm the following before scheduling the session:
- Which business goals are in scope for this session.
- Which areas are explicitly out of scope, for example, pricing experiments that require executive approval.
- Which functions should be represented, for example, product, engineering, design, data, marketing, and customer success.
Send a prep note
Send a brief pre-read to attendees 48 hours before the session. Ask each participant to come with two to three business goals or problems that are top of mind for them. Do not over-brief. A sentence or two per goal is enough.
Also ask participants to bring qualitative or quantitative data if it is available. Evidence grounds ideas in real user behavior and supports idea generation. Useful examples include:
- Analytics that show where users drop off, for example, a 10% drop-off at a checkout step.
- Session recordings that show where users struggle, for example, a user who could not find a button.
- Survey responses or support tickets that point to recurring friction.
Supporting data is a strong preference, not a requirement. Do not delay the session if data is unavailable.
Set up the FigJam board
Use the pre-built FigJam template to get started quickly. The template includes all four zones pre-configured. If you are setting up the board manually, lay out four distinct zones from left to right:
| Zone | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Goal Mapping | Captures the business goals that anchor ideation. Pre-populate with goals you already know and leave space for attendees to add more. |
| Idea Dump | The open area where participants place sticky notes during silent ideation. One idea per sticky. |
| Affinity Clusters | A blank area used to group related ideas by theme. Do not pre-label clusters. Let them emerge during the session. |
| Top 10 Shortlist | Where the highest-voted ideas land at the end. |
Assign a different sticky note color to each participant so idea attribution is visible without requiring names on each note.
Start an Open Session
FigJam’s Open Session feature lets participants join and edit the board without a Figma account. Start the Open Session before the call begins and drop the link in the meeting chat at the start.
Note: Open Sessions may require a paid Figma plan. Check Figma’s plan documentation for current availability. Any collaborative whiteboard tool that supports anonymous guest editing, such as Miro, also works.
Suggested agenda: 60 minutes
Use the following agenda to structure the session:
| Time | Block |
|---|---|
| 0–5 min | Board orientation and ground rules |
| 5–15 min | Goal mapping |
| 15–25 min | Silent ideation |
| 25–40 min | Share-out and build |
| 40–48 min | Prompt rounds, optional |
| 48–55 min | Affinity grouping and dot voting |
| 55–60 min | Top 10 shortlist and next steps |
Running the session
Orientation and ground rules: 5 minutes
Open the board on screen and walk participants through the four zones. Confirm that everyone can see their cursor on the board before moving on.
Establish three ground rules at the start of every session:
- No bad ideas. A weak idea now may spark the right idea in ten minutes.
- Quantity over quality. The goal is volume. Rough is fine.
- Defer judgment. Capture first. Evaluate at the end.
Goal mapping: 10 minutes
Ask each participant to add one to two sticky notes to the Goal Mapping zone. Each sticky should represent a business goal or problem that is most important to them right now.
After the round, narrate what you see. Group obvious duplicates and identify the three to five goals with the most representation. Keep those goals visible as the anchor for everything that follows.
Your turn: Before the session, draft your organization’s top goals to seed the Goal Mapping zone. Use specific, measurable goals. “Increase revenue” is too broad. “Increase mobile checkout conversion rate” gives participants a clear target. Use this table to draft your top three goals:
| Rank | Business goal | Primary KPI |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||
| 2 | ||
| 3 |
Silent ideation: 10 minutes
Direct participants to the Idea Dump zone. Set a visible ten-minute timer. Ask everyone to write as many experiment ideas as possible, one idea per sticky note, without talking.
Silent individual brainstorming produces more diverse ideas than open group discussion. Enforce the silence.
At the five-minute mark, prompt participants who have slowed down: ask them to pick one goal from the left and write one experiment they have been meaning to run but have not.
Share-out and build: 15 minutes
Go around the group. Each participant shares their sticky notes briefly, one sentence per idea. Keep explanations short. As others listen, encourage them to add new stickies if an idea sparks something. Participants can use reactions and stars in the FigJam toolbar to mark ideas they respond to.
Prompt rounds: optional, up to 8 minutes
Before starting this block, check the time. You need at least 12 minutes remaining to complete affinity grouping, dot voting, and closing. If you are short on time, skip this block and move directly to affinity grouping.
Run prompt rounds if the share-out produced fewer ideas than expected or energy has dropped. Use targeted prompts to surface ideas the group has not generated yet.
Effective prompts include:
- What do your best customers do that your average customers do not? Is there an experiment in that gap?
- What is the number one thing new users get confused by or give up on?
- What experiment has the team been meaning to run for months but keeps deprioritizing?
- If a competitor launched something tomorrow that displaced you, what would they have changed?
Affinity grouping and dot voting: 7 minutes
Move to the Affinity Clusters zone. Drag related ideas next to each other. Name the clusters as they form. Common themes include onboarding, activation, retention, conversion, and technical performance.
Once clustered, give each participant five dots using the stamp tool in the FigJam toolbar. Participants distribute their dots across the ideas they consider highest priority. Participants can place multiple dots on a single idea.
Note: Any emoji stamp works for voting if you prefer a different marker.
Top 10 shortlist and next steps: 5 minutes
Move the highest-voted ideas into the Top 10 Shortlist zone. Read them aloud to close the session.
Share the board link with all participants before ending the call. The shortlist feeds directly into a test planning session, where participants convert prioritized ideas into hypotheses and full test plans.
Facilitation tips
- Use a visible timer for every timed block. Participants work more efficiently with a shared countdown.
- If one participant dominates, redirect explicitly: “Let’s capture that and hear from [name] next.”
- If energy drops during silent ideation, give a verbal nudge without breaking the silence, such as a countdown or a short prompt in the chat.
- Keep the board visible on your screen at all times. Narrating what you see keeps remote participants oriented.
Common pitfalls
Use these responses to keep the session on track:
| Pitfall | What to do |
|---|---|
| Ideas are too vague to test | Ask: “What would you actually change, and how would you know it worked?” |
| Ideas are too large to test in a sprint | Ask: “What is the smallest version of this we could run in two weeks?” |
| Ideas do not connect to business goals | Ask: “Which goal on the left does this move, and why?” |
| One participant dominates | Name them and redirect: “Let’s hold that and hear from [name].” |
| Group edits ideas during silent ideation | Reinforce the rule: capture now, judge later. |
| Session runs long | Skip prompt rounds and go straight to affinity grouping. |
Expected outputs
A completed rapid brainstorm session produces:
- A raw idea backlog in FigJam, organized by affinity cluster and tied to business goals.
- A top-ten shortlist of prioritized experiment ideas.
- A shared board link distributed to all participants.
The shortlist is the input to your next session. To learn how to turn prioritized ideas into testable hypotheses and complete test plans, read Problem-solution mapping and Test planning.