Example data. Fieldnote is a fictional company used to fill all 61 boards, so the examples tell one consistent story.
Post-PMF Fieldnote: six people (Karim, Ana, Tom, Julien, Nadia, Marc as guest) on 'how to get a technician to the 10th logged job'.
What the team took away
Passing the sheet turned 'a counter' into 'photo-only mode by default in week one', a testable change nobody had at round one.
How to run it
Preparation
Exactly six people per table. Five or seven works with adjusted rounds, but six keeps the 6-3-5 math clean: 108 ideas in 30 minutes.
One problem statement or HMW per table, written at the top of each sheet. Send it the day before.
One sheet per person with a 6-row, 3-column grid, on paper or on the board. A timer.
Mix roles at each table: no table with only designers or only engineers.
Agenda
5 min
Rules Three ideas in five minutes, then pass your sheet left. You may build on what is already on the sheet or add something new. Total silence for 30 minutes.
30 min
Six rounds Call time every five minutes. Do not stretch a round because someone is not done; the constraint is the point.
7 min
Read and mark Each person reads the sheet in front of them and circles the two ideas they would not have thought of themselves.
3 min
Shortlist Collect the circled ideas on the board. Group duplicates. Leave with a shortlist of 10 to 15 for evaluation later.
Pitfalls
Do not allow talking, not even 'what did you mean by this'. Ambiguity on the sheet is what generates the unexpected variations.
Do not evaluate in the same session. Divergence and evaluation in the same hour kill the second half of the ideas.
Do not use a vague prompt. 'Improve retention' gives 108 platitudes. 'Get a team to invite a second member in the first session' gives ideas.
Afterwards
The shortlist goes through dot voting or the impact / effort matrix in the next session. Photograph every sheet; the unselected ideas are useful later.