Silent sticky notes, posted one at a time, then clustered on the wall into themes everyone can see.
Post-Up is a simple, physical way for a group to generate and organize ideas. Everyone writes ideas silently, one per sticky note. Then people take turns posting their notes on a wall, reading each one aloud as it goes up. As the wall fills, it sparks new notes.
When the ideas slow down, the group clusters the notes, moving them until similar ideas sit together, and gives each group a name. A messy wall becomes a handful of clear themes, and everyone can see how the group got there.
Each part has a purpose. Writing first gives every person a full pile before anyone speaks, so the loudest voice doesn't set the agenda. Posting in turns gives every idea its moment. Sorting by hand, in public, means the group owns the result.
Use it when you want many ideas and a clear picture of the patterns in them, when everyone needs to be engaged at once, or when you'll present the themes to other people afterward.
Write alone, post in turns, then sort the wall together until the themes appear.
Choose a part of the diagram or a tab to explore each step.
What one question should every sticky note answer?
How many different ideas can you get onto notes in eight minutes?
Which note will you post next, and what does it spark in the others?
Which notes belong together, and why?
What is each group really about, and which one deserves our effort?
It looks like office stationery, but Post-Up's design solves several common problems with thinking in groups.
In a spoken session, people hold ideas in their heads while they wait to talk, and some get lost. Writing at the same time lets everyone produce at full speed. Groups that write first and share afterward often end up with more ideas.
A note holding a single idea can be moved, grouped and regrouped. That makes sorting easy, and it stops one person's long list from being treated as one big block that nobody can pull apart.
Everything stays visible on the wall. Reading other people's notes triggers new connections, and gaps become obvious: an empty area of the wall is a question nobody has answered yet.
Taking turns gives each idea, and each person, a moment of attention. Clustering together means the themes come from the group, not from the facilitator's private summary written up afterward.
Write one “How might we…?” question large and stick it at the top of a wall or whiteboard. Clear plenty of space beneath it; two or three flipchart sheets side by side work well.
Give everyone a pad of sticky notes and a felt-tip marker. Markers force short, bold writing the whole group can read. The one rule: one idea per note.
Everyone writes as many ideas as they can and keeps the notes in a pile. No posting and no talking yet. Encourage at least ten notes each, including a couple of wild ones.
Go around the group. Each person posts one note and reads it aloud. Others listen, and write a new note whenever something sparks an idea. Keep going until every pile is empty.
Everyone moves notes at once, silently grouping similar ideas. Anyone can move any note. If a note keeps moving back and forth, make a copy so it can sit in both groups.
Give each cluster a short, specific headline. Then dot-vote on the themes or single notes worth pursuing, or use the Hundred Dollar Test test. Photograph the wall before anything comes down.
Sticky notes (the bigger, the better), thick markers, a large wall or whiteboard and a timer. Solo or remote? Use small notes on paper or an online whiteboard. With AI, use the prompt below.
Subject: a family-owned bike shop in a snowy town. Goal: steadier income in the off-season. Constraint: little cash to invest. Group: the two owners and three staff.
Off-season tune-up deals with free pickup, and a “bike hotel” that stores and services customers' bikes until spring.
Evening repair classes for adults, a “fix your own flat” night for kids and a beginners' maintenance workshop for new riders.
Fat-tire bike rentals for the groomed trails, studded tires, and indoor trainers for people who won't ride outside.
Host the local cycling club's winter talks, a New Year's morning group ride and a swap meet for used gear.
One note fit nowhere: “Fix strollers, scooters and kids' wagons too.” Nobody had thought of it, and it became a theme of its own.
Five themes from 84 notes. The dot vote put the bike hotel and repair classes first.
In Post-Up the wall does the thinking: ideas you can see, move and group. AI fits in at both ends. Before and during posting, it can add notes from angles your group missed. Afterward, it can propose clusters for a crowded wall. Use it to widen and organize; let the group decide what the themes mean.
After a round of posting, ask AI for a few notes that build on the wall.
Here are the notes on our wall so far: [notes]. Write 5 new notes, one idea each, that we're missing.
Paste the notes, then compare AI's grouping with the group's own.
Sort these 80 notes into 5-7 clusters. Name each with a specific headline, not a single word.
Ask which parts of the problem the wall hasn't touched yet.
Looking at these clusters, which parts of [problem] have no notes at all? Suggest 2 notes for each.
Photograph the finished wall and get a clean summary to share.
Read this photo of our wall. Type every note, grouped by cluster, and flag any you can't read.
Describe your question, pick a mode, then copy the prompt into Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini or Copilot. In coach mode you write your notes first; the AI then posts in turns with you, helps cluster the wall and names the themes with you.
The “Open in” links put the prompt in the web address. If your challenge includes anything sensitive, copy and paste instead.
After the session, click one to copy it, then paste it into the same chat.