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Crazy 8's

Discover Crazy 8's, a rapid ideation exercise fundamental to Design Sprints that forces you to generate 8 design ideas in 8 minutes to explore a wide variety of solutions.

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Crazy 8’s is a rapid ideation exercise, fundamental to [[Design Sprints]], in which each participant sketches eight different ideas to solve a design problem in eight minutes. The goal is to force creative thinking by going beyond the first idea (which tends to be the most obvious).

What Is Crazy 8’s?

Imagine you are in a contest where you have to generate as many ideas as possible in a very limited time. The pressure forces you not to overthink, not to judge your own ideas, and to put down whatever comes to mind first. Crazy 8’s is exactly that: an ideation sprint.

The method is simple: each participant takes a sheet of paper, folds it three times to create 8 panels, and has 8 minutes (one minute per panel) to draw 8 different ideas for the screen or problem at hand. The goal is not art, but concepts.

Why Is It Important?

  • Promotes quantity over quality (at first): It helps teams generate a large volume of ideas in very little time.
  • Avoids creative block: The time pressure forces you not to get stuck on a single idea. If nothing comes to mind, just move on to the next panel.
  • Promotes divergent thinking: It forces you to go beyond your first idea, which tends to be the least original. The fifth or sixth idea is usually the most interesting.
  • It is democratic: Everyone on the team (not just designers) participates and contributes their perspective, leading to richer solutions.

How Is It Done?

  1. Define the problem: The facilitator presents the design problem or the screen to work on (e.g., “the home screen for a new user”).
  2. Prepare the material: Each participant needs a sheet of paper and a marker.
  3. Fold the paper: Everyone folds their sheet in half three times to create 8 panels.
  4. Start the timer: The facilitator sets a timer for 8 minutes.
  5. Draw!: Each participant draws a different idea in each panel. One minute per idea. The facilitator announces each passing minute.
  6. Share and vote: At the end of the 8 minutes, each participant presents their 2 or 3 favorite ideas. Then, the team uses a dot voting system to decide which concepts are the most promising to develop further.

Mentor Tips

  • Do not aim for perfection: It is not about drawing beautifully. It is about communicating an idea. Boxes, lines, and text are more than enough.
  • It is okay to draw a blank: If you get stuck on a panel, that is fine. Just move on to the next one. The idea is to maintain the pace.
  • Vary your ideas: Do not draw 8 small variations of the same idea. Force yourself to think of completely different approaches to solving the problem.
  • It is an individual exercise within a group: Although done as a team, the drawing phase is individual and silent. This prevents the group from anchoring on the first idea said out loud.

Resources and Tools

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ux technique workshop ideation mid-level