What is the SCAMPER template?
Develop creative ideas for new products or services by looking at them from seven different points of view and asking different, targeted questions. Understand how you can change, innovate, and improve your existing tool or create an entirely new one. Help your team ignite their potential and promote intelligent and research-based decision-making.
Generate more qualitative concepts by exploring new possibilities related to your product. Use creative thinking and problem-solving methods to challenge your standpoint. Focus on individual elements of the SCAMPER technique.
The following elements of the SCAMPER ideation technique and questions you can ask are as follows:
- Substitute — What can I change or substitute in my current product, process, or service? What other products or tools could I use? Are there any rules that I could substitute? What will happen if I change my attitude towards my current product?
- Combine — What will happen if I combine two products together? What exactly could I combine to maximize the use of my product? How can I combine talent and resources to create a new approach to my product?
- Adapt — How can I adapt my product to serve a different purpose or use? What other products could inspire mine? In what other context could I put my current product?
- Modify — How can I modify my product’s look, feel, or shape? What should I add to modify my product? What could I emphasize or mitigate to create more value for the customer?
- Put to another use — How differently can my product be used? Who else could use and benefit from my product? How should my product behave in a different setting?
- Eliminate — What features, elements, or rules could I eliminate to simplify my product? What exactly can I eliminate without alternating my product too much? What will happen if I take away some parts of my product?
- Rearrange — What will happen if I rearrange my product, process, or rules? What components of my product can I rearrange? What if I try to do the opposite of what I’m trying to do now?
What are the benefits of the SCAMPER template?
Thanks to the SCAMPER template, you can:
- Run a quick, direct, and easy brainstorming session during which you can come up with innovative solutions and products or improve the already existing ones.
- Explore newly developed ideas from seven different perspectives by answering well-targeted questions.
- Help your team spark ideas for new tools by igniting your team’s potential and inspiring smart decision-making.
- Promote creative thinking and constructive problem-solving abilities amongst team members by engaging their minds to think around obstacles and how to overcome them.
- Drill down the elements of a problem, product, or tool into smaller pieces to analyze them from every angle and start their transformation process.
How to use the SCAMPER template in a few steps?
- Open the SCAMPER template on a new board or add it to an already existing one.
- Invite your team to the board by sending an email invitation or sharing the board URL.
- Join the audio and video chat with your teammates to see their faces and talk to each other. Add camera stream cards to the board or to your cursor in the settings.
- Start the exercise by stating the main challenge in a few words at the top of the pre-designed frame.
- Set the Timer for a couple of minutes to start generating new ideas. Write them down on sticky notes. Consider using different colors of sticky notes to know who’s the author of which proposal.
- Place sticky notes in corresponding columns: Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate, or Rearrange. Whenever encountering difficulties, use supporting questions from the bottom of each column to get a complete picture of your brainstorming session.
- Take the best ideas and explore them further by turning sticky notes into Jira issues with two simple clicks.