Ideation
Combine tools and problems you already know into an idea you can build in time.
The Little Alchemy Method
Start with basic elements and keep combining them until one result is worth building.
TL;DR Pair technologies with industries, many times over, and keep the few pairings that land.
In the game Little Alchemy you combine fire, water, earth, and air into steam, lava, and life, then keep combining the results into hundreds of other things.
Hackathon ideas work the same way, with technologies and industries as the elements.
combine
combine
The method: list 20-30 elements and combine them at random. Most pairings flop, which is why you need a lot of them.
Try It Yourself
Drag elements into the workspace and drop one onto another.
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Drag elements into the workspace below to combine them
TECH
INDUSTRIES
Drag elements here, then drop them on each other
Double-click a workspace element to remove it
Combinations in Action
How the method produced DispatchAI, our Grand Prize winner at the UC Berkeley AI Hackathon.
TL;DR Once you have one combination, swap a single element to get a new idea out of it.
Same tech, different industry. The 911 dispatcher becomes a mental health support line.
Swap the industry for another technology. An LLM directs video generation to prototype ads fast.
All three projects came from the same method.
Go Deeper
Optional background and prep.
The Ideation Toolkit
For when random combining stops turning up new ideas.
TL;DR Run SCAMPER on your top ideas, or pick a random noun and force a connection to your problem.
Try each letter on your top ideas. Could you substitute the API? Could you drop the most complex step?
- 1Pick a random noun: open a dictionary, use a generator, or point at something in the room
- 2Force-connect it to your problem. How is your idea like a “lighthouse”?
- 3Follow the links that come up, even the weird ones
Let the word be random. If you pick one that already relates to your problem, you'll get the same ideas back.
Interdisciplinary work has existing fields collaborate. Antidisciplinary work fits none of them, so don't drop an idea just because you can't say which field it belongs to. “An AI 911 dispatcher?” sounded strange until DispatchAI won the Grand Prize.
Ask Yourself
- Which field would never normally work on this problem?
- What would a musician, a chef, or a game designer do with it?
“Creativity is just connecting things. …
The broader one's understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have.”
— Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, Wired interview, 1996
Ideation Checklist
If you're competing to win, finish this before the event. If you're there to learn, you can run it at the event with the people you meet.
TL;DR Combine 20-30 elements into 15-20 candidates, then pick one your team can ship in the time you have.
Build a list of 20-30+ tech, domain, and wild card elements
Combine at random without filtering. Aim for 15-20 combinations before you judge any
Take a break and jot down what comes to you
Run SCAMPER on your top 3 ideas, all 7 letters
Favor ideas that use something that just became possible
Validate with your team: does it excite everyone, and can you ship it in 24-48 hours?