2. Search neighboring technologies, uses and characteristics
Search from more than one direction. Work from an affected use toward possible support, from a technology toward unlike applications, and from a desired characteristic toward different ways of obtaining it. For each lead, record the source and the concrete difference that could matter.
| Search move | Question that changes a candidate |
|---|---|
| Neighboring use | Where does a comparable receiving difficulty occur, and what changes when users, scale, timing, environment or acceptance conditions differ? |
| Neighboring technology or Method | What other way could supply the contribution—manual, organizational, technical or mixed—and what does its source actually demonstrate? |
| Neighboring characteristic | Could a different latency, reliability, reversibility, accessibility, interpretability or burden create a useful contribution even without a new technology? |
| Combination or changed support | Could a known contribution become useful through different access, review, interfaces, resources or a bounded sequence of supported steps? |
Use explicit value questions to generate possibilities, rather than scoring only the first available products. Keeney’s 2012 value-focused brainstorming is a historical Method anchor for that move and for individual generation before group anchoring when a group is involved. It is not a requirement for a workshop, proof of current prevalence or a reachability theory.
Name the generation operation actually used—for example, substitute the receiving use, vary the required characteristic, combine two support contributions or remove an assumed technical constraint. Keep the search scope, source dates and stopping reason sufficient for the next use. Search time, idea count, novelty score and geographic distance from an archive are not evidence of practical value.
Stop widening when the inquiry has enough materially distinct leads to expose the decision-bearing unknowns at its chosen effort, or when a missing domain premise prevents useful further construction. State unsearched areas if their omission can change the return. Do not claim exhaustive search.