A team can generate many ideas without making progress if it never changes how it evaluates them. Exploration and selection need different kinds of discussion.
The Double Diamond describes design through broad exploration and focused decision-making across its two diamonds. The Double Diamond.
Give exploration a purpose
For an illustrative character product, explore different ways to address the defined need rather than produce many cosmetic versions of the same answer. Keep the reason behind each alternative visible. An unusual idea can be useful even if it is not selected.
Make the narrowing explicit
Use the actual project criteria to explain why one direction proceeds. Preserve important uncertainties instead of pretending the chosen concept has answered every manufacturing or audience question. Avoid a vote with no record of what people were asked to judge.
The handover should contain the selected direction and its rationale. This lets the next stage develop the decision rather than repeatedly reopen the whole field of possibilities.
Source reviewed 25 October 2026. Practical interpretation and original illustrations by PLUSHIP / Qunhe; examples are illustrative.
Related reading
Translate Customer Language into a Product Design Question
Make Product Design Trade-Off Criteria Explicit
Choose Experimental Factors Before Comparing Product Prototypes