• Grab something to draw with. A lot of designers prefer to draw using Sharpies, but a pencil or pen will work too. You can use whatever you already have to draw. 
  • Set your timer to eight minutes. You’ll have one minute to sketch each design idea.
  • Let the ideas flow. Draw any and every solution that comes to your mind. If you have more than eight ideas, feel free to repeat the exercise.
Several simple sketches, showing a dog walker, a dog with a leash in its mouth, a dog image in an app on a phone screen, etc.

Just like that, you’ve got eight potential design solutions! Keep in mind that this exercise is often done in a group setting. Each person draws eight sketches on their own, then the group comes together to decide on their favorite ideas. Each person shares their top two or three ideas with the whole group, or each person may vote on their favorite sketches from across the team. The best ideas chosen will usually be elaborated on through more detailed sketches.

Best practices

Now that you know how to do a Crazy Eights exercise, check out some tips to make your creativity flow freely while you sketch.

  • Do a creative warm-up exercise. Complete an activity where you draw the person next to you without looking at your paper, or have everyone draw their own interpretation of a word or phrase. Starting to put pen to paper like this will get you in the mindset to sketch.
  • Make sure your problem is well defined. Develop a set of Crazy Eights for one How might we question or one problem statement at a time.
  • Don’t judge your ideas. Ideating is all about creating lots of ideas, not creating perfect ones! Sketch any and every idea you have until your paper is full, no matter how crazy it might seem.
  • Don’t judge other people’s ideas. Keep an open mind when other people are presenting their sketches. 
  • Include a diverse group. Since Crazy Eights are often done in a group setting, it’s best that your group represents a variety of work roles, experiences, abilities, genders, and backgrounds. This will help your team have a wide range of ideas to choose from.
  • Ideate in a comfortable environment. Do this exercise in a location that’s relaxed and encourages creative thinking. It’s always great to get out of your normal work space for creative exercises.
  • Don’t be afraid of sketching. You don’t have to be an artist to be a UX designer, and your sketches during Crazy Eights don’t have to be perfect. You just need to clearly communicate your ideas. Stick figures are perfectly fine!

Benefits of Crazy Eights

Three icons from left to right - several light bulbs; a brain coming out of a box, a clock

Crazy Eights is an exciting design ideation exercise that generates a lot of ideas in a small amount of time. If you have five people do the exercise at the same time, you’ll have 40 potential solutions after only eight minutes. That’s a lot of ideas!

Crazy Eights also forces you to think outside the box because you have to come up with many ideas in a short timeframe, without judging them. This means that you will have lots of unique, nontraditional solutions to consider.

This exercise is meant to be fun and fast paced, so enjoy yourself. Let your creativity flow without judgement, and come up with some awesome ideas! In the next course item, you have the option to complete a Crazy Eights exercise for your CoffeeHouse project if you so choose.

If you want to learn more about how a company called Switch uses the Crazy Eights exercise, check out this article, Crazy Concept Ideation with Crazy Eights.