Skip to module content
YE Learn+Do

Module · AI for Product & Service Design

Problem-solving ideas

Move beyond the first obvious idea and use AI to explore more possible solutions, while keeping your team in control of the final decision.

Lesson 1 of 1 · 4 min read

Generating multiple ideas to solve a problem

At the start of the programme, you might feel pressure to choose a business idea quickly. The risk is that you choose the first idea that sounds exciting, rather than the idea that best solves a real customer problem. 

AI can help with idea generation: coming up with lots of different options to solve the same customer problem. It is useful for widening your thinking, spotting other possibilities and challenging your first assumptions. It should not decide your business idea for you. 

This supports Company Connect Milestone 3 – Generating Ideas. Use AI to expand your options, then use your customer knowledge, team skills and the Operating Framework to choose which ideas to test. 

A simple idea-generation recipe 

  1. Define your customer: who are you trying to help or sell to? 

  2. Define their problem: what difficulty, need or frustration are they experiencing? 

  3. Define your limits: what do you need to work within? These could include the budget you have from raising finances, the time you have before a trade fair, the rules in the Operating Framework, the materials available, safety checks or your team’s sustainability goals. 

  4. Ask AI for 10 different solutions. Include a mix: one simple, one unusual, one low-cost, one sustainable, one service idea. 

  5. Score the ideas as a team before choosing which ones to test. 

Filtering your ideas 

  • Does it solve a real customer problem? 
  • Could your team realistically make, source or deliver it this academic year? Or could you create a prototype of the idea to show instead? 
  • Can you test it cheaply before spending lots of money? 
  • Is the idea safe and suitable? 
  • Does it fit your values, including sustainability or social impact if relevant? 

Worked example 1 

Smarter energy habits in the classroom: 

Customer: students and classrooms trying to reduce wasted energy.  

Problem: lights, chargers or devices may be left on when they are not needed, wasting electricity.  

Limit: the idea must not involve electrical work or changing school equipment, but it can encourage better habits. 

AI might suggest stickers, classroom energy audit cards, “switch-off” reminders, energy-saving challenges or digital posters. Your team would then choose two ideas to test with students or teachers before deciding what to develop.