Agile - Brainstorming

Brainstorming Guide

Goal: Generate many ideas fast — no filtering yet.
Think of it as: “Collect first, judge later.”

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Avoid these fallpits

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  • Criticism (“that’s stupid”, “won’t work”)
  • Debates / long discussions
  • Estimations (“too big”, “too hard”)
  • Solutions too early (“the best architecture is…”)
  • “Yes, but…” energy

These do NOT belong in Brainstorming phase

Scrum Master

Scrum master holds the line of defense and helps the team move forward when things get complicated, team start discussing tech through debates, keeps time and makes sure everyone participates.

Best Practice

  • Quantity > quality
  • Be specific, keep it short
  • Build on ideas: “Yes, and…”
  • Questions are allowed (put them in Questions)

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Define the Project Direction

  1. Everyone opens Excalidraw: https://excalidraw.com/
  2. Product Owner creates a shared board
    • Click Share (top right)
      Screenshot 2026-02-11 at 12.44.08.png
    • Copy the link and share it with the team
      Screenshot 2026-02-11 at 12.45.06.png

Before taking next step, ask yourselves:

  • What are we building?
  • Who is it for?
  • What problem are we solving?

Use a timer on 4-6 minutes
Write down ALL your ideas

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Once done, everyone puts down 3 dots on their favourites.
Discuss and then move on to the next step

Brainstorming Project Ideas

  1. Create 3 zones on the canvas
    • Ideas
    • Questions
    • Constraints (tech, knowledge, time)
  2. Set a timer (5–10 min)
  3. Everyone adds notes silently
    • One idea per note
    • Short phrases (3–7 words)Screenshot 2026-02-11 at 12.57.24.png
  4. Dot-vote (optional, 2 min)
    • Everyone adds up to 3 dots ⭐ on their favorite notes (per category)
  5. Capture outcomes / discuss
    • Screenshot/export the board
    • Move to MVP/prioritization after brainstorming
Reminder

Do not delete

Save the data somewhere, as the ideas and feedback will be used in the next step

Next Step

Minimal Viable Product Agile - MVP