The creative matrix is an alternative way of getting to a large collection of new ideas quickly. When you’re finding that everyone’s ideas are too similar, it’s time to expand the boundaries of your thinking with the Creative Matrix.
you want to generate a large amount of options quickly. you want to avoid a group’s first instinct to jump to what they think is the solution. you want to come up with ingredients for a richer picture of the problem
The creative matrix is an alternative way of getting to a large collection of new ideas quickly. When you’re finding that everyone’s ideas are falling in and around the same areas of exploration, it’s time to expand the boundaries of your thinking. This is a perfect time to use a creative matrix.
The goal of ideation is to expand the thinking and ideas of everyone on the team, to create something that is greater than the sum of its parts. However, without context and practice, most of us have a tough time expanding beyond what we know (or came up with in the shower).
The creative matrix was designed with this in mind. Essentially, the creative matrix is a tool that will help spark new ideas at the intersections of discrete categories. This tool is all about divergent thinking. Best of all, you get to design your own creative matrix based on your design criteria, the market you play in, or the customers you serve (or wish to serve).
TIP The matrix as displayed here uses ‘customer segments’ as the horizontal axis, but you are free to use any axis you like. By doing this, the creative matrix can be used for much more than to generate possible business model options. For instance, how about placing ‘Stakeholders’ on the horizontal axis for storytelling or sales ideas? How about having different delivery strategies? Competitors? Or products? The matrix works in all these cases.