

Ask HN: Do you brainstorm regularly? - jaytee_clone

1. How often do you brainstorm?<p>2. Do you do it for work or for fun?<p>3. Do you do it by yourself or with others?<p>4. What brainstorming techniques do you employ?
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Xurinos
I just think. I first strive to understand a concept, and then I put myself in
the shoes of the actors affected by the concept. It evolves in my mental
vision, and abstractions flutter around, interact, and connect in appropriate
places. Eventually I have a pretty complete Vision in the abstract, the
interesting implementation details mostly worked out and the uninteresting
details glossed over.

This is often most effective in the course of a shower, kinda my meditation
time under the water, allowing my mind to drift and play with interesting
problems. However, I use the same approach for problems at the workplace or
pretty much any problem I encounter in life.

I believe less in random brainstorms and more in looking at the big picture.
Also, I do not mind trying things out, even if they seem improbable, just to
see if they work anyway. There is a certain limit to dreaming about things. I
balance the practical with my problem-solving.

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scorpioxy
My boss likes to "brainstorm", I don't. These meetings are usually filled with
half-baked plans that tend to break later on and me after a few weeks left
fixing the mess.

I rather tend to take a philosopher's walk and think things through. Then I
try to forget about it and work on something else for a while so that the plan
develops.

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imp
Rarely, usually only when I'm stuck on a problem or before I begin long-term
planning for a website. It's usually both work and fun. By myself. No
techniques, just a fat sharpie marker and lots of blank scrap paper. Sometimes
I tape up pages to the wall around my desk to help visualize ideas.

