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| Criterion |  Innovation How Might We |  Facilitation Alignment Mapping |  Innovation Lotus Blossom |  Innovation Brainstorming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | With a stuck problem carrying many implicit assumptions, the method translates observations into open, workable questions. It sharpens the problem frame without pre-thinking the solution, turning frustration or fuzziness into a search space with clear direction. | When several people work toward one goal but hold different mental maps, Alignment Mapping makes the discrepancies visible. It arranges goals, assumptions, and priorities so shared direction becomes verifiable. | When a central question feels too large, the method breaks it into neighboring topic fields with their own depth of ideation. It holds structure and openness at the same time, so adjacent perspectives don't get lost. This grows an idea space out of a core problem. | When a team faces an open question with many obvious directions, the method first creates breadth instead of premature commitment. It separates idea flow from evaluation and makes lines of thought visible, creating a pool for selection and further development. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 30–45 min | 1-2 h | 45-90 min | 30-60 min |
Participantsdifferent | 1-10 | 4-12 | 3-10 | 4-12 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | HMW Questions, Challenge Framing, Idea Prompts | Alignment Map, Open Issues, Decision Questions | Lotus Diagram, Idea Themes, Shortlist | Idea pool, Theme clusters, Shortlist |
Tagsno overlap | FramingOpportunityIdeationQuestions | AlignmentStakeholdersStrategyFacilitation | BrainstormingIdeationCreativityDivergenceWorkshop | BrainstormingIdeationCreativityWorkshopDivergence |