Quantity explores, quality refines
Sketching 100 ideas can be a helpful rule of thumb for generating 1 good design direction.
The train of thought is this:
- The first few dozen ideas are probably obvious ones.
- The next few dozen are less common.
- As you get to the last dozen, you're likely sketching unique, specific solutions.
This idea blends well with ideation frameworks Step Jump Leap or Divergent Thinking.
Of course, there isn't a magic number to reach in order to guarantee a brilliant solution. Investing time in exploring and iterating upon promising ideas is time well spent, as opposed to feeling pressured to reach a number of unrefined concepts. But simply put, generating a large quantity of quick, diverse ideas early on can set you up to explore details of solutions and benefits.
Quantity explores, quality refines.
