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Play games to come up with ideas - Shimpei Takahashi
Nine years ago, I joined a toy company as a toy developer, driven by my passion for creating innovative toys. Initially, I proposed several novel ideas to my boss, but he always asked if I had sufficient market data to support them. My boss emphasized the importance of analyzing market trends before embarking on product development.
This focus on market data left me struggling to generate fresh and unique ideas, leaving me feeling drained and uninspired. To overcome this hurdle, I adopted a new approach, using the game Shiritori to spark creativity and generate fresh ideas. I believe this technique could benefit others, and I would like to share it.
Shiritori is a game in which players take turns saying words that start with the last letter of the preceding word. For instance, if one player says "apple," the next player must come up with a word that starts with "e," like "elephant," and the following player must begin with "t," such as "trumpet." This game can generate a plethora of arbitrary words that may be utilized to generate fresh and unique ideas.
Shiritori can be played in any way you like, and it produces numerous random words that you can link to your desired train of thought to generate ideas. If you want to think of toys, for example, you might imagine a toy cat that performs somersaults or a toy gun that fires cola. The ideas can be outlandish, as long as they keep coming. The more ideas you generate, the greater your chances of coming up with some good ones. For example, a toothbrush combined with a guitar could make teeth brushing more enjoyable for kids. Or, a hat with a roulette game that features a terrifying alien that pops out when someone puts it on could be a hit at parties. The key is to keep the ideas flowing.
This technique enables you to generate imaginative and unexpected ideas for toy development rather than relying solely on market data analysis. The key is to be open-minded and let your imagination run wild, even if the ideas seem ridiculous. By generating a lot of ideas, you are more likely to come up with some good ones.
This approach need not be limited to Shiritori; you can employ any technique that generates random words, such as perusing a dictionary. The objective is to collect random words that are not directly linked to the category you are considering, allowing you to establish connections that
generate numerous ideas. It is a method of generating fresh ideas and establishing connections that might not have otherwise been considered. This approach is not only beneficial for toy development, but also for books, apps, magic tricks, and other creative endeavors.
I trust that you will find this method helpful and anticipate the thrilling future that awaits you as you put it into practice.