SCAMPER
Seven lenses for making something new from something existing.
SCAMPER is a checklist of creativity lenses. Each letter forces a different type of thinking about your subject: Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify/Magnify, Put to other uses, Eliminate, Reverse. The best ideas often come from the lenses that feel least applicable. Don't skip them.
How to run this
- Define your subject clearly — a product, service, process, or policy.
- Work through each lens in order. Set a 2-minute timer per letter.
- Write quantity, not quality — the filter comes later.
- Shortlist the 2–3 ideas with the most potential.
- For each shortlist pick, name the assumption that must be true for it to work.
SCAMPER
Bob Eberle · SCAMPER: Games for Imagination Development · 1971Treating SCAMPER as a brainstorm prompt and writing general ideas. Each letter should constrain your thinking in a specific direction. "Eliminate: what if we removed the checkout step entirely?" is a SCAMPER idea. "Simplify the process" is not.
One idea from a lens that felt irrelevant — especially E (Eliminate) or R (Reverse). Those are the lenses people avoid, which is exactly where the interesting space is.
When you have 2–3 shortlisted ideas from different lenses, and each has a testable assumption you could run an experiment on.
Try it interactively with WAiDE
WAiDE will guide you through each SCAMPER lens — pushing you further when you go too shallow and helping you identify the most promising directions. You'll leave with shortlisted ideas and a session report.