• Home
  • Free Resources
    • Storyboard Depot
    • Instructional Design Programs
    • Best Stock Photo Sites
    • PowerPoint Grids
    • eLearning Examples
    • Glossary of Online Learning Terms
    • Graphic Editing Tools
    • Icon Collections
  • My Books
  • About
  • Book Store
  • ON-DEMAND COURSES

The eLearning Coach

For designing effective learning experiences

  • Podcasts
  • LXD
  • eLearning Design
    • Audience
    • Instructional Design
    • Learning Objectives
    • Storyboarding
    • Tests
    • User Interface
  • eLearning 2.0
  • Cognition
  • Multimedia
    • Audio
    • Graphics
    • Video
  • Reviews
    • Book Reviews
    • Software Reviews
  • At Work
You are here: Home / eLearning Design / Finding Creative Inspiration

Finding Creative Inspiration

19 Crowd-sourced Ways to Get More Creative

by Connie Malamed

Tweet41
Pin4
Share40
85 Shares

Finding Creative Inspiration
How do people find the creative inspiration necessary for generating unique ideas and solutions? Where do creativity and ideation fit into our day at work?

At a recent Learning Solutions conference, Catherine Lombardozzi (author of Learning Environments by Design) invited me to join her in facilitating an early morning discussion on Creative Inspiration. The number of people who come to these early sessions is always a pleasant surprise! We arranged our seats in a circle, which is more conducive to a discussion and the fun began. I took notes and here are some of the ideas that we tossed around. Please add your favorite ways to get inspired in the Comments section.

  1. Understand creativity: Download the Creativity Boost resources that Catherine has created at L4LP.
  2. Designer Portfolios: Look for inspiration in designer portfolio sites, such as dribbble.com and behance.com. There are many others. (See 21 Ways to Get Visual Ideas.)
  3. Videos: Check out the recordings from the eLearning Guild.
  4. Books: Look through idea books, particularly children’s books. One person mentioned author Mo Williams as an inspiration. Here are some examples:
    • The Online Learning Idea Book Volume 1 by Patti Shank
    • The Online Learning Idea Book Volume 2, edited by Patti Shank
    • 101 Ways to Make Training Active by Mel Silberman (for instructor-led training, a little old but can be adapted)
  5. Search tools: For image ideas, especially how to conceptualize something abstract, search in Google images and stock photo sites.
  6. Demos: Go to eLearning demo sites to find examples that you can rework for your purpose.
  7. Games: Analyze and examine the structure of games. Diagram the structure.
  8. Brainstorm #1: Brainstorm with people in other fields and walks of life.
  9. Brainstorm #2: Brainstorm alone and then come together. You may get better ideas by allowing people to brainstorm on their own and then bring their ideas on sticky notes to the meeting. Everyone places their unsigned sticky notes on a whiteboard.
  10. Visualize: Create visualizations and visual metaphors using the eLearning Brothers PowerPoint Graphic Library—scroll down at the page to see samples.
  11. Collections: Collect a portfolio of ideas online or in a folder that you can access when you’re stuck.
  12. Hackathons: Run Hackathons, where a group of people come together and form teams that collaborate to create innovative solutions.
  13. Masterminds: Create mastermind groups that meet regularly and discuss innovative ideas.
  14. Converse: Just go out there and converse with people—audience members, peers, people from other departments.
  15. Change environments: Get out of the office and into another environment, even if it’s just for a short walk
  16. Low buzz: Try using Coffitivity, which replicates the ambient sound of a coffee shop, overlaid with your favorite music for working
  17. Music: Look for music playlists on the streaming services that are specifically curated for writing. I’ve found many on Spotify.
  18. Diagram ideas: Use the Duarte Diagrammer for visualizing ideas.
  19. Tools list: Tracy Parish has curated a gigantic tools list and you may find inspiration using some of these tools.

Get the latest articles, resources and freebies once a month plus my free eBook, Writing for Instructional Design.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Writing for Instructional Design

Subscribe to my newsletter AND get my eBook, Writing for Instructional Design.

Get the latest articles, resources and freebies once a month plus my free eBook, Writing for Instructional Design.

The Learning Guild

CSUN Instructional Design Program

CSUN Instructional Design Program

Fullerton Instructional Design Program

Fullerton Instructional Design Program

Learn ID at University of San Diego

u of san diego id program

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ABOUT A CAREER IN ID

answers to 5 key questions about a career in instructional design

NOW AVAILABLE AS AN EBOOK

You can now buy the email course as a PDF to get all the lessons at once. Price: $15.00 US.

eBook Cover
Click the image to buy the book.

SITE MENU

Home
Resources
My Books
About
Book Store
Membership Community

TOPIC MENU

Podcasts
LXD
eLearning Design
eLearning 2.0
Cognition
Multimedia (Graphics & Audio)
Reviews
At Work

RESOURCES

Storyboard Depot
Instructional Design Programs
Best Stock Images
PowerPoint Grids
eLearning Examples
Glossary of Online Learning
Graphic Editing Tools
Icon Collections

© Copyright 2021 Connie Malamed · All Rights Reserved