What it is for:The analogies method helps a team generate ideas by looking at a different setting that faces a similar challenge, such as a restaurant kitchen checking orders or an airline boarding queue. The team leaves with a few clear principles borrowed from other fields, each with its limits written down, and a short list of concrete ideas built on them.
Who it helps:Teams whose ideas keep coming from inside their own organisation, and anyone persuading a cautious audience with a working example.
When to use it
Your ideas keep coming from inside your own organisation and feel familiar.
You face a challenge that is common in other fields, such as queues, checks, handovers or trust.
You want to persuade a cautious audience by showing a working example elsewhere.
How to use it
Strip the challenge to its core, without sector details.
List other settings that face the same core challenge, the further away the better.
Pick two or three settings and describe what people there actually do.
Extract the principle behind each, then list where your context differs.
Turn the principles that survive into one to three concrete ideas each.
Tip:Invite someone with an unusual job history. They often know analogous settings first-hand.
Credits and sources:Original Tiremesù worksheet and wording. Further reading: IDEO.org Design Kit https://www.designkit.org/methods.html
Full guide and film:https://www.tiremesu.com/guides/analogies
