Osborn Checklist (SCAMPER)

Purpose

The Osborn Checklist, popularly known as SCAMPER, provides seven systematic lenses for transforming an existing product, service, or idea into something new. Instead of brainstorming from scratch, it takes what already exists and asks: what if we changed it in each of these specific ways? It is especially effective when iteration is needed, not invention.

At a glance

• Group size: 3–12
• Duration: 25 minutes
• Difficulty: Low
• Facilitation style: Prompt-driven ideation
• Setting: Any workshop room

How to run

1. Present the starting point (3 min): Describe the existing product, service, or concept to be transformed.
2. Work through each prompt (18 min, ~2.5 min each):

• Substitute: What component, material, person, or process could be replaced?
• Combine: What could be merged with another product, feature, or service?
• Adapt: What could be adapted from another domain or context?
• Modify/Magnify: What could be made bigger, smaller, faster, slower, or different in shape?
• Put to other use: How could this serve a different market, user, or purpose?
• Eliminate: What could be removed to simplify?
• Reverse/Rearrange: What if the order, layout, or roles were reversed?

1. Harvest best ideas (4 min): Review all ideas generated. Star the top 3–5.

Materials needed

• SCAMPER prompt cards or poster
• Sticky notes and markers
• Timer
• The existing product/concept as reference

Pitfalls & common mistakes

• Rushing through prompts: Each prompt deserves at least 2 minutes. Don’t skip to favourites.
• Only generating one idea per prompt: Push for 2–3 ideas per prompt minimum.
• Applying to something too abstract: SCAMPER works best on concrete, existing things.
• Not combining prompts: The best ideas often come from applying two prompts at once (e.g., Eliminate + Reverse).

Inclusion & accessibility

• Provide SCAMPER prompts on printed cards so everyone can reference them.
• Allow silent individual ideation before group sharing.
• Use examples from diverse industries to make each prompt accessible.

Variations

• SCAMPER relay: Each person takes one prompt and works on it alone, then passes to the next.
• SCAMPER for services: Adapt the prompts for service design (Substitute a touchpoint, Eliminate a step, etc.).
• Reverse SCAMPER: Start with the worst possible version and SCAMPER toward improvement.

When NOT to use this

• When there is no existing starting point to transform — use open brainstorming instead.
• When the team needs radical innovation, not iterative improvement.
• When the existing concept is sacred and cannot be changed — SCAMPER will feel frustrating.

Source & further reading

• Osborn, Alex F. — *Applied Imagination* (Scribner, 1953)
• Eberle, Bob — *SCAMPER: Creative Games and Activities* (Prufrock Press, 1996)
• Michalko, Michael — *Thinkertoys* (Ten Speed Press, 2006)