How an online collaborative tool, CollaBrain, helps in brainstorming

This is a project for the Groupware and Collaborative Systems course, Masters 2 Level, at Université Paris XI

Brainstorming in groups can be a bit chaotic when a lot of ideas are thrown on the table. It's difficult for both the moderator to keep up with everyone and the scribe to keep track of the things that have been said – what he writes may not even capture the essence of what was said. These issues have compelled my team to develop CollaBrain, an online brainstorming tool that allows multiple participants to collaborate and generate ideas in real-time.

The application focuses on the important details that make a brainstorming session productive. The ‘How Might We’ approach to problem solving is taken from IDEO, the Stanford d.School, and other well-known creative organizations to ensure the best wording possible is used and that the right question is asked [1]. The participants then decide how long the session will last. Each can pin their ideas on the board within the given timeframe. When the time is over, everyone can vote for ideas they like and narrow it down to find the right solution.

Home Page

Each person connects to the application. The names and assigned color are shown on the lower left.

Defining the Problem Statement

Anyone can write and edit the problem the group is trying to solve but only one can edit it at a given time.

Ideation Phase

The group decides on the length of time they wish to brainstorm. The timer on the upper right shows the amount of time left for the current session. Each one can then pin their ideas by typing it on the lower portion of the application. The ideas appear as sticky notes with the corresponding color of the user.

Voting for Ideas

After the session, the participants can vote for the ideas they like and wish to explore and discuss further. The session ends when everyone has voted.

Tools

Javascript, node.js, HTML, CSS

Reference

1. Berger, W. 2012. The secret phrase top innovators use. Harvard Business Review.Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2012/09/the-secret-phrase-top-innovato .