Different brainstorming methods within the context of physical computing

In this work, we present a teachable moment in the context of a physical computing and prototyping course held at our university. We tried to investigate how different brainstorming methods affected the ideation phase of a project. To do this, we conducted an experiment in which we separated teams and gave them three different ideation methods: Post-Its^®, creative thinking (mind mapping) and a physical brainstorming set consisting of cardboard objects to generate their concepts. The conclusions drawn from these observations encouraged us to open up the domain for further experimental setups to investigate the question: Do opportunistic techniques provide a benefit in this context?