SCAMPER Model
View current and existing problems through the seven different SCAMPER lenses that help with brainstorming, creative thinking, and exploring new possibilities.
Trusted by 65M+ users and leading companies
About the SCAMPER Model
What is a SCAMPER brainstorm?
SCAMPER is a brainstorming method developed by Bob Eberle, an author of creativity books for young people, who introduced it in his 1971 book SCAMPER: Games for Imagination Development. In this clever method, you’ll find 7 different questions to encourage and inspire your team to approach a problem through 7 unique filters. By asking your team to think through a problem using this framework, you’ll unlock fresh, innovative ways to understand the problem you’re trying to solve.
What does the SCAMPER acronym stand for?
Substitute
Combine
Adapt
Modify (also Magnify and Minify)
Put to another use
Eliminate
Reverse
These keywords refer to 7 thought-provoking questions to ask during your brainstorm. The goal is to help you dig deep to find innovative solutions to problems your team or company faces. The 7 filters used for this exercise represent the questions necessary for busting through creative blocks to discover new ways to work.
When to use the SCAMPER model
Is your team in a rut? Have you had a lingering problem that can’t seem to be solved? Are you starting a new initiative at work? SCAMPER is a great way to get unstuck and move past stagnant, outdated ideas to new, more enlightened ones. Use this technique to help your team explore outside traditional ways of thinking through 7 different perspectives.
SCAMPER is considered one of the easiest, most direct brainstorming methods. The simple technique is based on the idea that what’s new is actually based on something that already exists. Any and all responses are welcome, no matter how random or illogical.
How do you use the SCAMPER method?
Starting a remote SCAMPER-based brainstorm is easy. Just open up your Miro Template and get started with the pre-populated layout. Pro Tip: the way to SCAMPER is nonlinear. If you’re moderating your team’s brainstorming, feel free to bounce fluidly between questions.
Step 1: Align your team to the problem you’re trying to solve.
This goes without saying for every brainstorm, but it’s important to set clear goals before you start scampering.
Step 2: Begin working through each letter in SCAMPER.
Here is a breakdown of the method, and some questions to help you get your team’s creative juices flowing.
Substitute: The questions to ask here are: What can you substitute or change—whether that’s your product, problem, or process? How can you substitute it for something else entirely?
Combine: When you get to this stage, you should consider how to combine two or more parts of your process or product in the hopes of achieving something new and different. For : perhaps two of your product features are getting in each other’s way. Can they be combined to create a more efficient customer experience?
Adapt: During the “adapt” phase of your brainstorm, think through what can be added, tweaked, or modified in your product or process to make it better. Sample questions include: How can we adjust the existing product? How can we make the process more flexible?
Modify: Could you modify the product, problem, or process to improve results? Can you change the process to work more efficiently?
Put to another use: Can the product or process be applied to a different use, or used in another way? What benefits would be gained by using the product elsewhere?
Eliminate: What can be removed or simplified? How can you achieve desired results without it? This step is all about purging aspects that do not bring anything to the table.
Reverse: Could your team rearrange or interchange elements to improve results? Is flipping your product or process on its head something your team should consider? Yes.
How is SCAMPER used in creative thinking?
The seven different SCAMPER questions are designed to inspire creative thinking by looking at a problem or solution through different lenses, which are not prescriptive. Any and all ideas are welcome to enhance this ideation exercise.
What are the advantages of SCAMPER?
The SCAMPER method encourages creativity in brainstorming by removing boundaries and also promotes constructive problem-solving among teams. For an optimal SCAMPER brainstorming session, it’s important to promote an environment that encourages new ideas where nobody feels that their contributions are dismissed.
What are examples of SCAMPER?
The SCAMPER method is designed to enhance creative thinking in problem-solving and examples of this can be seen across teams in the workplace and also with children in the classroom.
Get started with this template right now.
Agenda Template
Works best for:
Project Management, Meetings, Workshops
Even when you’ve hosted meetings for years, hosting them online is different. Keeping them structured, purposeful, and on-task is key. That all starts with having a detailed agenda, and this template makes it so easy for you to create one.
3-Circle Venn Diagram
Works best for:
Education, Diagrams, Brainstorming
Venn diagrams have been a staple of business meetings and presentations since the 1800s, and there’s a good reason why. Venn diagrams provide a clear, effective way to visually showcase relationships between datasets. They serve as a helpful visual aid in brainstorming sessions, meetings, and presentations. You start by drawing a circle containing one concept, and then draw an overlapping circle containing another concept. In the space where the circles overlap, you can make note of the concepts’ similarities. In the space where they do not, you can make note of their differences.
Research Topic Brainstorm Template
Works best for:
Desk Research, Brainstorming, Ideation
Coming up with a topic for a research project can be a daunting task. Use the Research Topic Brainstorm template to take a general idea and transform it into something concrete. With the Research Topic Brainstorm template, you can compile a list of general ideas that interest you and then break them into component parts. You can then turn those parts into questions that might be the focus for a research project.
SAFe Program Template
Works best for:
Agile Methodology, Diagrams, Agile Workflows
Many organizations use the Agile model, but even companies that don’t rigorously adhere to all Agile standards have adopted Agile tools and methods like Program Increment (PI) Planning. Even if you’re not participating in a formal PI session, a program board can be a great way to establish communication across teams and stakeholders, align development objectives with business goals, clarify dependencies, and foster cross-functional collaboration. The board provides much-needed structure to planning sessions, yet is adaptable enough to accommodate brainstorming and alignment meetings.
Bang for the Buck Template
Works best for:
Project Management, Strategic Planning, Prioritization
The name pretty much says it—this Agile framework is all about helping you maximize efficiency by powering collaboration between product managers and dev teams. Together you can go over each to-do on the project agenda and evaluate them in terms of costs and benefits. That way you can prioritize tasks based on how much bang for your buck they deliver. This template is great for teams and organizations that want to make a strategic plan to tackle an upcoming sprint.
Check-In Icebreaker Template
Works best for:
Icebreakers, Meetings
Run a dynamic online session with the Check-in Icebreaker Template. Use this icebreaker before your meeting to boost energy levels, connect people, and warm up the room.