Sense and decide
Eight in Eight
Eight rough ideas in eight minutes with no judging, then a vote. Quantity first, narrowing second.
Borrowed from the "Crazy 8s" exercise from the Google Ventures design sprint. Read the original source.
One session · Minutes to start · Anyone on the team can start it
Try this first
Set a timer, have everyone sketch fast with no judging, then share and vote.
Use it when
Teams anchor on the first idea (often the AI's) and need volume before convergence.
Skip it when
It is for generating options on open problems, not decisions that need analysis or have a right answer.
How to introduce it
Give everyone eight minutes to sketch eight rough ideas. Quantity over quality, and no judging while sketching. Then people share their best and the group votes. Design studios use it to separate generating from choosing, so the room does not lock onto the first idea.
How to show up
Enforce the two rules that make it work. The clock, which forces quantity, and no judging, which keeps ideas coming. Keep generating and choosing strictly apart.
How long it takes
Around fifteen to twenty minutes for the sketching plus sharing and voting.
What makes it hard
People stall at two or three ideas, or start judging their own mid-sketch. The clock and the rule are what push past that, so hold them. The quality will feel low, which is expected, because quantity is the point at this stage.
What it looks like when it's working
People produce a real range including unexpected ideas, so the group has options. If you end up with minor variations on one idea, the exercise has not pushed the group past the obvious.
How long until it sticks
Expect a few uses before the team is comfortable with fast, rough, judgment-free generation.
How you know it stuck
The team reaches for a quick burst before narrowing.
The idea behind it
The first idea is rarely the best, and judging early kills the ones that needed developing. A fast judgment-free burst gets you past the obvious.
Where it comes from
Design practice. A timed, quantity-over-quality divergence before any convergence, structurally separating generating from judging. Each person sketches eight ideas in eight minutes, then presents their top ideas. The group uses dot voting to surface favorites: and critically, no judging during the sketching, a "yes, and" rather than "yes, but" mentality.