SCAMPER

SCAMPER is a checklist mnemonic used as a creativity technique to help generate new ideas and solutions to problems. It serves as a structured brainstorming method, prompting users to think about existing products, services, or processes in unconventional ways by applying a series of actions or prompts related to seven different thinking approaches. The acronym SCAMPER stands for:

• Substitute: What can be substituted? Which parts, materials, processes, or even people can be replaced with something else?
• Combine: What can be combined? What ideas, materials, features, or processes can be merged to create something new or improved?
• Adapt: What can be adapted? How can the existing item or process be changed to suit a different purpose, user, or condition? What else is like this, and what can we copy or borrow?
• Modify, Magnify, Minify: What can be modified? What can be magnified (enlarged, made stronger, exaggerated)? What can be minified (made smaller, lighter, or streamlined)?
• Put to other uses: What other uses can this be put to? Can it be repurposed or used in a different context?
• Eliminate: What can be eliminated? What features, parts, or steps can be removed or simplified without compromising functionality?
• Reverse or Rearrange: What can be reversed or rearranged? Can the order of steps be changed? Can cause and effect be reversed? Can the components be turned inside out or upside down?

The SCAMPER technique is widely used in product development, marketing, problem-solving, and innovation to encourage lateral thinking and overcome mental barriers that may inhibit creative thought. By systematically applying each element of the SCAMPER checklist, users can generate a diverse range of potential improvements or completely new concepts.