What needs to be finished first
At least three concrete personas, competitor profiles or fictional roles are prepared as cards with name, context and goals.
A challenge formulated as How Might We is available in writing for the role to work on.
What needs to be ready before start
Role cards with name, context, goals, pet peeves (one card per role); stickies; timer; whiteboard or board with lanes per role and shared consolidation area.
One facilitator who orchestrates role changes; three to twelve participants who step into roles; one scribe per role (optional) or self-documentation on stickies.
Challenge as HMW sentence; role list (for example grandmother, competitor CEO, 12-year-old child, industry outsider); short briefings per role; example idea as warm-up.
30-60 min
Distribute role cards (one per person or small group). Board lanes per role. Rule: speak from the role, not about the role. Exaggeration allowed.
The one question this method answers
Which solution ideas for the challenge emerge when the team thinks from clearly defined outside roles?
Marker: Phase
| Step | Duration | Action | Hint |
|---|---|---|---|
1Phase 1: Warm-up and role briefing | 10 min | Read challenge aloud. Hand out role cards. Each person reads their role and names three traits of the figure. Short example round with test question. | If someone answers from their own perspective during example round, steer briefly. Role is not costume, but thinking frame. |
2Phase 2: Solo ideation in role | 10-15 min | Silent phase: each person generates as many ideas as possible in their role on stickies. One idea per sticky. Target at least 8 ideas per role. | Phones away. Anyone stuck in role should use concrete traits of the figure (for example "What would my grandmother find annoying about this?"). |
3Phase 3: Role showcase | 15-20 min | Per role, 2-3 min pitch of best ideas, still spoken in role. Others note follow-on ideas. Cross-pollination: pick up ideas from other roles. | If a role only produces clichés, facilitator asks from role context: "What specifically annoys this person about the current solution?" Force concreteness. |
4Phase 4: Translate back and cluster | 10-15 min | Drop role. Translate ideas into own perspective: which of them is feasible or at least testable in context? Cluster, create shortlist of 3-5 ideas. | Without translation back, exercise remains play. Every idea needs a note on how it would look concretely for the real target group. |
What comes out at the end
Board export or markdown note with challenge, role list, collected ideas per role, shortlist after translation back with concretion note and follow-up action per top idea.
Date, challenge and participants in header. Derive shortlist as separate document or tickets. Follow-up sessions reference the role that produced an implemented idea so the lever remains transparent.
Compact working template for Rolestorming with context, input, output artifacts, and next step.
Brainstorm from other roles or personas to break your own mental patterns.
When and for what do we use this method?
Which data, observations, decisions, or materials are available?
Short notes along the runsheet.
Owner, date, and success signal.
Concrete filled scenario, fictional example
Concrete filled scenario, fictional example
Roles: Sabine (solo tax advisor, 52, impatient), Marcus (competitor CEO), Ben (12 years old, TikTok-native), Anonymous designer from Duolingo.
Recognize symptoms and steer against them
Ideas from grandmother role are only big, slow, simple instead of concrete needs.
Fill role cards with real traits (hobbies, pet peeves, goals). Facilitator asks follow-up from role context instead of allowing cliché.
Participants slip back into own view: "But realistically that would not work."
Facilitator interrupts and brings back to role: "What would Sabine say about this?" Reality check only in Phase 4.
Workshop ends with funny ideas from roles, none transferred into real concept.
Strictly keep Phase 4, at least 10 min reserved. Every shortlisted idea needs note on how it would look for real target group.
All roles resemble own target group (for example only three personas from same segment).
Plan at least one industry-foreign, one child-like and one adversarial role (for example competitor, regulator). Distance creates new associations.
Senior participants do not take role work seriously and comment ironically.
Set norm before start: taking role seriously is prerequisite. If senior keeps blocking, short 1:1 or switch role. Otherwise group flips.
Done signals checkable in under a minute
Go to the profile for purpose, similar methods, and sources or continue to the next method in the catalog.