Idea generation has long been the core part of any product/project development. It is still extremely important for people like entrepreneurs, designers, product managers, growth marketers, developers and so on to have the best idea generation resources at hand in order to succeed. No need to say that great idea generation tools can play a big role in their day-to-day work. Let’s look at 5 fantastic tools for effective brainstorming, idea generation and further work.
- Germ.io
- Milanote
- Javelin
- Curator.co
- Point
Best Idea Generation Tools
1. Germ.io
The collaborative idea shaping and execution platform
Germ.io quickly gets your team from ideas to execution stage. This awesome idea management and context brainstorming platform starts from letting you quickly capture every valuable idea as you brainstorm and then turn them into project plans and go fully actionable.
With Germ you’ll always have the big picture of your ideas, productive environment for collaboratively shaping them further and tracking the execution. You can create idea cards, assign them a working stage, break them down further into next-steps, then share, discuss, assign, schedule and track from “idea” to “completion” stage. With a process like this it is easy to plug necessary people whenever you decide and have them contributing to a defined action plan in just minutes.
Essentially, Germ is a powerful knowledge capturing and execution tool built around your ideas. It enables you to share your vision, validate ideas, run small experiments and learn what works best quickly and comfortably. Sign up for free, add ideas and collaborators, develop idea-based strategies and iterate toward success.
2. Milanote
The collaborative notes app for creative work
Milanote is a creative modern stylish ideation canvas. First, you see an infinite board which you can quickly populate with visuals. But it’s not just a moodboard. It enables you to naturally evolve with your ideas by adding structure (icons, links, notes, columns) as you start to see patterns and connections. The process itself provokes creative thinking and makes you see patterns other people don’t.
Milanote offers a fantastic balance between a creative visual tool and research, connecting the dots and planing app. It is definitely a visual tool that will perfectly suit creative people like UI/UX or brand designers, product managers, marketers, art directors, photographers, but also a great choice for many people of adjacent professions. Milanote feels like a huge white wall where you can do whatever you want, but in a structured, non-messy way. It can be used both as a private place of a shared workspace for collaboration.
The Milanote app is available across all devices and modern browsers, native iOS and Android apps are coming soon. The official website has a great section of use cases where you can view live examples of how people use Milanote.
3. Javelin
The business ideas generation, testing and validation platform for finding Product/Market Fit
Javelin (previously called Experiment board) is a lightweight Lean Startup and Customer Development platform for startups, businesses and individuals. It enables you to iterate through ideas to achieve the Product / Market Fit. Use Javelin to practice modern startup methodologies, test your business ideas with customers, segment your customers, manage interviews, design landing pages for testing, discover viable solutions, pivote, use pre-built survey, plan towards your Product/Market Fit – all in one place. Javelin offers you 3 main steps:
- Find your customers and their real problems
- Test your solution with a full-featured landing page
- Measure your Product/Market fit
The two main ways to get started with Javelin are Academy (learning and using Lean Startup) and New Startup Project (starting a new project). Go to Acadey section if you want to use lean validation/experiment board to describe, validate and refine your business idea. Or create a new startup project, select your stage (idea, solution testing or product) and use offered features to progress with your goals. Javelin also offers a community where you can ask questions and meet other entrepreneurs.
4. Curator.co
A visual thought organizer: from the first fragment of an idea to presentation
Curator is simple yet powerful modern creativity tool for iPhone and iPad. It is built around an idea of collecting fragmented thought bits and resources into a structured board, regardless of what the content types are (links, images, text, etc) in order to present the final result. You can add bits from your sources or import them from cloud services like Dropbox, Pinterest, Instagram, etc.
Curator offers the following simple workflow:
- Curate
- Organize
- Present
Curator is fast and fun: you create a new board (boards divided into cells), add or reorganize content bits with a simple drag and drop, and in the end you have a ready PDF presentation for storytelling. You use your fingers to manage your bits across the board, which is essentially tactile thinking which you can switch from non-linear to sequential. Use the full screen mode to swipe between your items, or check out all your bits with live visual bookmarks. Some great use cases are visual storytelling, collecting inspiration, preparing mood boards, presenting ideas to clients, reference collaboration. By combining the features above, Curator creates a uniquely fluid tactile and visual thinking and research experience. Once you’re done, present your mood board and references to an audience on a projector or distribute as a PDF.
5. Point
The quickest way to share and discuss what you find online
Point is the quickest way to send a link to your contact without leaving the page or app you are in. It’s perfect for sharing articles and webpages super fast. This simple iPhone app and Google Chrome plugin enables you to instantly start a discussion whenever you find anything worth of it. Point sits alongside what you’re sharing, allowing you to easily quote and comment the best parts. It saves everything you send or receive in your inbox, all links in one place. Point works with your email contacts. The best use cases are using it with your close friends or teammates.
Point’s browser plugin is a breeze to use. Just click “Add Point to Google Chrome” on official homepage, and you’re ready to go. See that icon to the bottom right? Click and it will bring up a box with your contacts. Just mention a contact (using “@”) you want to share a page you’re currently on with, and you’re done. Proceed discussing the page, selecting and sharing the most important parts of the page, or add it to your collection.
