Bundle Ideas
Bundle Ideas is a convergence step from IDEO.org's Design Kit in which a team combines the strongest parts of several separate ideas into a small number of fuller solutions. The ideas are put on a wall, grouped, examined for their best elements and then recombined across groups into concepts that work as a system. It follows a brainstorm and precedes concept development and prototyping.
Facilitation script
- 1
Restate the design challenge and explain the aim: a few combined solutions, not a winning idea. Get every idea note and sketch onto the wall.
10 min - 2
Cluster similar ideas into groups as a team and give each group a working label.
15 min - 3
Go through the groups one by one. Discuss what is strongest in each and write every strong element on a separate note.
20 min - 4
Look for themes across the groups. Move the element notes around and try combinations until two to four bundles take shape.
15 min - 5
Describe each bundle as one solution in a few sentences or a quick sketch, including how its parts depend on each other.
10 min - 6
Check the bundles against the challenge, trim what does not belong, and decide which ones move into concept development.
5 min
Tips
Separate elements from ideas before you combine anything: a weak idea often contains one strong mechanism, and it is that mechanism you want to carry forward.
Ask of every bundle what holds it together; if the answer is only that the team likes all the parts, it is a list and not a solution.
Expect this step to be harder and slower than the brainstorm before it, and do not schedule it for the last half hour of a long day.
Common pitfalls
Combining everything the team likes into one bundle, which produces an overloaded concept that is expensive to prototype and impossible to explain
Stopping after the clustering step, so the session ends with themed groups of ideas and no combined solution
Keeping whole ideas intact because their authors are attached to them, which blocks the recombination the method depends on
Building bundles that are near-copies of each other, leaving the team with nothing to compare in testing
Losing sight of the original challenge while combining, so the bundles are coherent and solve a different problem
Variations
Remote: move the ideas onto a shared whiteboard, duplicate the strong elements as separate notes and build each bundle in its own frame. Larger teams: after the joint clustering, split into subgroups that each build one bundle from the same pool of elements, then present and compare. Short on time: do the clustering and the choice of strong elements in one session and the recombination in a second, which also gives people time to think. If the pool of ideas is small, skip the clustering and go straight to naming the strong elements.
Where it fits
When to use it
A brainstorm has left a wall of single ideas, none of which solves the challenge alone
The team is about to vote and you can see that the vote would discard good partial ideas along with weak ones
The solution has to work as a system, for example a service with several touchpoints, and no single idea covers all of it
Several subgroups or sessions have produced overlapping ideas that need to be merged before prototyping
The team needs two to four distinct concepts to compare instead of one favourite
When not to use it
The goal is to understand themes in research data or feedback: use an Affinity Map, which stops at labelled clusters and does not build solutions
There are only a handful of ideas and one is clearly ready: develop it directly, for example as a Concept Poster
The group needs a quick ranked shortlist: Dot Voting or an Impact and Effort Matrix is faster
You want to explore every combination of options along defined parameters: a Morphological Box does that systematically
The team is tired at the end of a long ideation session: bundling needs fresh judgment, so schedule it after a break or on the next day
Related methods
Frequently asked questions
What is Bundle Ideas?▾
Bundle Ideas is a method from IDEO.org's Design Kit for moving from many single ideas to a few robust solutions. A team clusters its ideas, picks out the strongest elements of each cluster, and recombines those elements into concepts that work as a whole. It takes 60 to 90 minutes and sits between ideation and concept development.
What is the difference between Bundle Ideas and an Affinity Map?▾
Both start by grouping notes on a wall. An Affinity Map ends with labelled clusters that describe the themes in the material. Bundle Ideas continues from there: it breaks the clusters apart again into their strongest elements and reassembles those across clusters into new, combined solutions.
How many bundles should a team create?▾
Two to four is a workable number. One bundle leaves nothing to compare, and more than four usually means the bundles overlap or the team has not made choices. Aim for bundles that differ in their core logic, so that testing them teaches you something.
When should you bundle ideas?▾
After a brainstorm or other ideation step has produced a broad pool of ideas, and before you invest in concept development or prototypes. It is best done with some distance from the idea generation, after a break or on another day. Fresh attention makes it easier to take ideas apart.
What makes a good bundle?▾
A good bundle can be described as one solution with a clear user and purpose, and its parts strengthen each other. Removing any part should visibly weaken it. If the parts could be delivered independently without loss, they are separate ideas that happen to sit together.
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Try it freeMethod descriptions on Workshop Weaver are original content written by our team, based on established facilitation practices. This method was inspired by work from IDEO.org (Design Kit).