Mental Notes

July 13th, 2010


A copy of Mental Notes just arrived on my desk and it looks like a great little design tool. The mental notes are a stack of 52 cards which can be used in conceptualization phases to help with idea generation. Each card conveys an inspirational thought related to psychology that touches upon such themes as: persuasion, comprehension, memory, attention and comprehension. The set of cards comes very well presented in a leather case with wonderful illustrations (Kevin Cornell) on each card. If you need to sprinkle a bit of randomness and brainstorming into your process, this set could very well be an interesting way to help you achieve just that.

In Stephen’s own words:

The Mental Notes cards were designed to be idea starters and can be used at almost any stage of product development. They’re great for generating new product or feature ideas or finding creative solutions to problems.

While there is no one right way to use these cards (it’s fun to simply learn or review these ideas!), I’ve found the following phrase quite helpful during brainstorming sessions: “How can we use [card] to … [goal]?”

Credits: Stephen P. Anderson

6 Responses to “Mental Notes”

  1. Danny Hotea Says:

    Very cool!

  2. Erik Says:

    A bit on the pricey side – but very nice.

  3. Gerben Says:

    Nice :)

  4. Nathanael Boehm Says:

    Erik, you should have pre-ordered! They were half the price :)

  5. Ben Crothers Says:

    I've actually been using these today to help in brainstorming and crafting personas. They're brilliant for highlighting behaviours that are relevant for the specific project you're on, and the specific UI problems you want to generate different ideas for.

    I got mine free for signing up to a recent conference, so you never know your luck!

  6. janko Says:

    I've used this set for a couple of projects. Works really well and well worth the price (comes with a really nice box).