Mental Notes
July 13th, 2010
A copy of Mental Notes just arrived on my desk and it looks like a great little design tool. The mental notes are a stack of 52 cards which can be used in conceptualization phases to help with idea generation. Each card conveys an inspirational thought related to psychology that touches upon such themes as: persuasion, comprehension, memory, attention and comprehension. The set of cards comes very well presented in a leather case with wonderful illustrations (Kevin Cornell) on each card. If you need to sprinkle a bit of randomness and brainstorming into your process, this set could very well be an interesting way to help you achieve just that.
In Stephen’s own words:
The Mental Notes cards were designed to be idea starters and can be used at almost any stage of product development. They’re great for generating new product or feature ideas or finding creative solutions to problems.
While there is no one right way to use these cards (it’s fun to simply learn or review these ideas!), I’ve found the following phrase quite helpful during brainstorming sessions: “How can we use [card] to … [goal]?”
Credits: Stephen P. Anderson
6 Responses to “Mental Notes”
July 13th, 2010 at 8:43 pm
Very cool!
July 15th, 2010 at 4:14 pm
A bit on the pricey side – but very nice.
July 16th, 2010 at 11:34 am
Nice :)
July 21st, 2010 at 9:36 pm
Erik, you should have pre-ordered! They were half the price :)
October 20th, 2010 at 1:08 am
I've actually been using these today to help in brainstorming and crafting personas. They're brilliant for highlighting behaviours that are relevant for the specific project you're on, and the specific UI problems you want to generate different ideas for.
I got mine free for signing up to a recent conference, so you never know your luck!
December 29th, 2010 at 4:26 pm
I've used this set for a couple of projects. Works really well and well worth the price (comes with a really nice box).