IDEO’s article shares 10 exercises designed to help individuals and teams build creative confidence and tackle challenges with fresh ideas. These exercises are practical, hands-on tools rooted in human-centered design, making creativity feel accessible and learnable. Each one is thoughtfully structured to encourage innovation, whether it’s through generating ideas, collaborating more effectively, or understanding the people you’re designing for.
Activities like mind mapping for brainstorming, empathy mapping to step into users’ shoes, and rapid prototyping exercises like the Wallet Exercise make creativity feel approachable and fun. These tools are flexible enough to apply across industries and help build essential skills like giving constructive feedback, identifying challenges, and creating impactful solutions. The core takeaway? Creativity isn’t something you’re born with—it’s a skill you can grow with the right mindset and practice.
