Brainstorming is an idea generation technique used by UX designers (and many other professionals) to come up with creative solutions or features. In a brainstorming session, individuals or teams rapidly share thoughts and proposals in a judgment-free setting, aiming to generate a wide variety of ideas. For UX, brainstorming might be used to find ways to solve a user’s pain point, to improve a process flow, or to innovate on a product concept. For example, after identifying that users struggle to find content on a website, a team might brainstorm different navigation designs, search improvements, or content reorganization ideas. Key characteristics of effective brainstorming include quantity over quality (at first, more ideas is better), openness (even seemingly wild ideas are welcome), and building on each other’s suggestions. Often, sketches, sticky notes, or whiteboard drawings accompany a brainstorming session. The result is a pool of potential solutions, which the team can then evaluate and refine, selecting the most promising ideas to prototype or develop further.