Where do good ideas come from? How were the most interesting products and services created? There must be some secret, some kind of magic behind them – or maybe it is all just pure coincidence.
Sometimes good ideas really are the result of chance, but in most cases that is not the whole story. Maybe it is not only about luck, and not only about genius either. Maybe there is a method behind it. There is – and in this article I want to introduce one of those methods.
I will walk you through one of the most practical idea-generation methods for innovating products and services: SCAMPER.
What is SCAMPER?
SCAMPER is a method that helps us generate ideas for a new product or service, or improve an existing one, through a structured series of questions.
And who should answer those questions? Everyone involved in the project – from yourself, to managers, to junior designers. Every perspective matters.
The purpose of SCAMPER is to challenge the way you think about the product or service you want to improve and help you look at it from new angles.
Why is it called SCAMPER?
SCAMPER is an acronym that makes it easier to remember the different “modes” of questioning you go through during the process.
That said, you do not need to memorize every design method you want to use. Just save this article and come back to it when you need it.
SCAMPER stands for:
S – Substitute
C – Combine
A – Adapt
M – Modify
P – Put to another use
E – Eliminate
R – Rearrange / Reverse
Substitute
Here, the focus is simple: What can I replace in my product or service to make it better or different?
This could be a small part of the product, a specific process, or even a role within the organization.
Helpful questions:
- Can I change the time, place, or method?
- Can I replace the people or teams involved in the process?
- Can I replace one part of the process or product with another?
- Can I change the order in which things happen?
- Can I rethink which part of the experience drives the most user satisfaction?
Combine
The focus here is on combining different parts of your product or service — or even combining your product or service with another one.
Helpful questions:
- Which ideas, processes, people, products, or features can be combined?
- What can be combined to reduce costs or improve results?
- If I define a clear goal, what can I combine in my current product or service to achieve that goal with minimal cost and maximum impact?
Adapt
What can you adapt in your product or service to achieve a better result?
It is useful to look at competitor products or services here, and even use a form of reverse engineering to understand what works and why.
Helpful questions:
- Which part of my product, service, or process can I adapt to fit the current situation and goals?
- Which part of a competitor’s product, service, or process can I adapt to my own context and goals?
- Can I adapt an idea from a completely different field? Inspiration can come from nature, art, engineering, architecture, music, science, medicine, and many other places.
Modify
Here the question is: What can I modify in my processes, products, or services?
For example, what should I emphasize more? What should users pay less attention to? Can I change materials, colors, size, feel, tone, or any other detail of the product or service?
Helpful questions:
- How can I add more value?
- How can I reduce the importance of something my users do not like?
- Can I make the process faster?
- Can I expand or narrow the target audience?
- Can I make part of the product or service more compelling, more useful, or more convincing?
- Can I add new features?
- Can I remove features?
- Can I modify existing features or processes?
Put to another use
The idea here is straightforward: Can I find new ways to use my service, product, feature, or process?
Helpful questions:
- Which elements of my product or service can be used for a different purpose?
- How might users use the product, or parts of it, in different situations?
- Can I change not just one element of the product or service, but the market I am targeting altogether?
- How can I reuse an existing feature somewhere else in the product to save time or resources?
Eliminate
Yes, this sounds a little scary – but it does not have to be.
In this step, the goal is to remove things only if doing so improves the current situation. Ask yourself whether there is anything in your product, service, or processes that can be removed without creating a negative effect – and maybe even creating a better outcome.
Helpful questions:
- What can I remove while keeping the same result?
- Can I eliminate waiting time?
- Can I simplify something?
- Can I reduce or remove costs from a certain process?
- Can I reduce my own effort, or the effort of my team?
Always think about the consequences, of course – but also remember that more does not always mean better. Very often, the opposite is true.
Rearrange / Reverse
Finally: What can you rearrange?
Think of it like rearranging a room. Which pieces of furniture – in this case, features or processes – could switch places to make the space more useful, intuitive, and functional?
Helpful questions:
- Can I change the order of the processes?
- Can I change the order of the problems my product or service is solving?
- Are there patterns that could be changed to achieve a better result or a better optimization?
Final Thoughts
That is SCAMPER in a nutshell.
Try it the next time you want to start something new in product design, or apply it to an existing product or service you want to improve.
As a simple exercise, the next time something frustrates you in a digital product, apply the SCAMPER method and try to come up with a better solution. Then add the result to your portfolio.
