Whilst the five decks are designed to be used in succession, Catapult Cards are an agile design thinking tool that can be adapted for use by audiences of all ages (10+), in a diverse range of contexts, including schools, universities, workplaces, and hackathons.
Ways to use Catapult Cards
+ Fly solo, or use Catapult Cards in pairs or groups.
+ Use all five decks consecutively in a single session, or one deck at a time or selective decks over a series of sessions spanning days, weeks, or months.
+ Already know the problem you want to tackle? Skip the Opportunity Deck, and start with the Ideation Deck.
+ Have an idea, but unsure if it’s any good? Skip the Opportunity and Ideation Decks, and go straight to the X-Factor Deck.
+ Don’t care about monetizing your idea? Skip the Enterprise Deck.
+ Have a viable idea already, but don’t know how to pitch it? Skip straight to the Storytelling Deck.
Linus Pauling famously said,
“If you want a good idea, start with a lot of ideas.”
But, creativity doesn’t happen by accident. It’s the result of setting the conditions up for creative success, and explicitly building the creative muscle through frequent, fun and fast practice.
We have three Cultural Conditions to set up for creative thinking and ideation:
Go Big
Quantity over quality; shoot for as many ideas as you possibly can.
Go Wild
Anything is possible; most good ideas sounded crazy when someone first thought of them.
Go Together
Collaboration over competition; build on the thinking of others to spark new ideas.
Lastly, ideation is best done in short, sharp, timed bursts. We suggest ideating in three minute blocks to keep intensity and engagement high.
Using Catapult Cards Solo
1. Set the Cultural Conditions for ideation.
2. Choose a deck, and read the top prompt card out loud.
3. Flip the timer to start the 3 minute countdown.
4. Generate as many responses as you can to the card prompt.
5. As soon as the momentum of responses slows, read the next prompt card.
6. Repeat until the sand timer runs out.
7. Repeat steps 1-5 until you have generated 100+ ideas.
Using Catapult Cards in small groups
(2-5 people)
1. Set the Cultural Conditions for ideation.
2. Choose a deck, and read the top prompt card out loud.
3. Flip the timer to start the 3 minute countdown.
4. Generate as many responses as you can to the card prompt.
5. As soon as the momentum of responses slows, read the next prompt card.
6. Repeat until the sand timer runs out.
7. Repeat steps 1-5 until you have generated 100+ ideas.
Using Catapult Cards in larger groups
Option A
1. Set the Cultural Conditions for ideation.
2. Allocate one person as the ‘Ideator’ to read the prompts.
3. The Ideator reads their top prompt card out loud and flips the timer.
4. Each individual generates as many responses as possible to the prompt.
5. As soon as the momentum of responses to the prompt begins to slow down, the Ideator reads the next prompt card.
6. Repeat 3-5 until the sand timer runs out.
7. Repeat steps 1-6 until you have generated 100+ responses to the chosen deck.
8. Collate the responses from the room on a board, the floor, or table.
Option B
1. Set the Cultural Conditions for ideation.
2. Set up the room so that tables are organised in a closed circle or square.
3. Hand out the cards so that each person has one card, face down on the desk.
4. Set a 20 second repeating timer, and have everyone flip their first card.
5. Each individual generates as many responses as possible to the prompt face up on their desk.
6. After 20 seconds, everyone passes along their prompt card to the person sitting to their left.
7. Each individual generates as many responses as possible to the new prompt on their desk.
8. Repeat 6-7 for 3-5 minutes.
9. Repeat steps 1-8 until you have generated 100+ responses to the chosen deck.
10. Collate the responses from the room on a board, the floor, or table.
Setting up for Success
As per the Nielsen Norman Group, ideation is the process of generating a broad set of ideas on a given topic, with no attempt to judge or evaluate them.
Each deck within the Catapult Cards kit steps users through a series of prompts designed to encourage divergent thinking, in order to generate many, many ideas.
From here, users are then asked to converge their thinking; sifting and sorting through their 100+ responses to choose the most viable.
Using Catapult Cards:
The Opportunity Deck
From challenges catching public transport, to issues disposing of waste, the Opportunity Deck steps users through a series of prompts designed to generate 100+ problems (or opportunities), in the world around them.
Use one of the methodologies above (depending on group size) to use the Opportunity Deck to generate 100+ potential problems.
After closing ideation, the entrepreneurs will sift and sort through their 100+ ideations to choose an opportunity to tackle.
The best opportunity to tackle is the one that links to the entrepreneur’s passions and lived experiences. In this way, the more personal our connection is to the problem, the more authentic our solution will be. Additionally, the more that we care about the problem, the more likely it is that we’ll remain interested and invested in our solution.
Using Catapult Cards:
The Ideation Deck
Your first idea is (often) your worst idea. The Ideation Deck breaks the brainstorming stalemate by stepping users through a series of prompts designed to generate 100+ potential solutions to your chosen problem in a fun, fast and collaborative way.
Use one of the methodologies above (depending on group size) to use the Ideation Deck to generate 100+ potential ideas.
After closing ideation, the entrepreneurs will need to sift and sort through their 100+ ideations to choose their two top ideas to tackle.
The best ideas to choose are the ones that either a) solve the problem in a new and unique way or b) connect tightly to the problem.
Using Catapult Cards:
The X-Factor Deck
From T-shirts to mowing lawns, any and every conceivable product or service is one pivot away from being an innovative new solution. The X Factor Deck unlocks the innovation within; stepping users through a series of prompts designed to push ideas from the mundane to the radical.
Use one of the methodologies above (depending on group size) to use the X-Factor Deck to generate 100+ potential points of difference or unique value propositions
After closing ideation, the entrepreneurs will sift and sort through their 100+ ideations to choose the best value propositions to attach to their top idea.
The best value propositions to choose are the ones that provide a unique point of difference that renders existing solutions inferior or obsolete.
Using Catapult Cards:
The Enterprise Deck
Okay. You’ve got (what you think) is a good idea. The Enterprise Deck steps users through a series of prompts designed to refine the ‘how’; digging into the scalability and financial sustainability of transforming your idea from possible to probable.
Unlike the other decks, the Enterprise Deck is split into two sections. The first 15 cards (numbered 1-15) take users through a series of prompts that transform an idea into a business. Users should work through each of the numbered cards in order from 1-15, building their idea’s Business Models Canvas through the process.
The remaining 18 cards of the deck are ideation prompts, and should be used as per the previous decks to ideate new ways to stretch the revenue potential and financial sustainability of the business.
After closing ideation from these cards, the Business Models Canvas should be updated to reflect changes to the business model.
Using Catapult Cards:
The Storytelling Deck
“Ideas are only as good as your ability to communicate them.”
– Adena Friedman
The Storytelling Deck helps you articulate what you and your fledgling idea stand for; stepping users through a series of prompts designed to develop your brand identity and a compelling narrative that gets noticed.
Use one of the methodologies above (depending on group size) to use the Storytelling Deck to generate 100+ compelling ways to share your idea with others.
After closing ideation, the entrepreneurs will sift and sort through their 100+ ideations to choose the most compelling ways to explain and share their business.
