Problem + Stimulus = Idea: collide a well-defined problem with anything around you and see what sparks.
PSI stands for Problem + Stimulus = Idea. You take a clearly defined problem, put it next to something unrelated, such as an object on your desk, a photo, a street scene or an overheard conversation, and look for the ideas the collision produces.
It's less a single trick than a frame for a whole family of stimulus methods, and its rules are loose on purpose. Any stimulus will do, as long as it's vivid enough to get your mind moving. Nothing is precious: a stimulus that sparks nothing simply makes way for the next one.
What PSI does insist on is the P: a problem you've looked at from several angles, so the stimulus has something specific to catch on. That's the main difference from its close cousin, Random Words, which fixes the stimulus as a single word.
Use it when you're stuck and want a simple structure you can repeat, your ideas have gone stale, or you'd rather draw on your surroundings than stare at a blank page.
Define the problem, collide it with any vivid stimulus, and collect the ideas. Then swap in a new stimulus.
Choose a part of the diagram or a tab to explore each part.
What are you really trying to solve, and how else could you say it?
What object, picture, place or event could you set beside your problem?
How could the stimulus, or any one of its features, suggest a way to tackle the problem?
PSI is simple, but it rests on two solid ideas: a well-defined problem focuses the search, and an outside stimulus widens it.
A vague problem lets every stimulus slide past. Once you've defined the problem several ways, there are more hooks for a stimulus to catch on, and you can tell quickly when a link is useful.
Set two unrelated things side by side and the mind automatically tries to connect them. PSI harnesses that reflex. The links it makes are ones you would not reach by reasoning step by step from the problem.
A real object or a picture has dozens of features: shape, material, purpose, history, the ways it fails. Each feature is a separate prompt, so one good stimulus can feed a whole session.
When a stimulus goes dry, drop it and grab another. Nothing is wasted, nobody has to defend a poor pick, and you can rerun the same problem tomorrow with completely new material.
Write the problem down, then reshape it. Finish “The real trouble is…” a few ways, restate it as each person involved would, and zoom out to the bigger goal. Keep the version that feels most alive.
Collect four or five stimuli: objects in the room, photos, the street outside, a random web page. Vivid, detailed things work better than abstract ones.
Take one stimulus. List its features, then ask how each one could help. How does the stimulus handle a problem like yours? Write down every idea, however odd.
When a stimulus runs dry, move on. Try the next one against the same problem, or against a different version of the problem from step 1.
Group the ideas and look for recurring themes. Then shortlist the strongest with a NUF Test and plan a small test.
A clear problem statement, four or five stimuli (objects, photos, places), sticky notes and a timer. With AI, all you need is the prompt below.
Subject: follow-up visits at a busy community health clinic. Goal: fewer missed follow-ups. Reframed problem: how might coming back feel as easy as leaving? Stimuli: five everyday objects and places.
Texts that show progress: “Your follow-up is in 3 days. Your care team has set aside 20 minutes for you.” The visit feels already underway, not a fresh chore.
Hand every patient a “boarding pass” at checkout: date, time, room and a QR code to rebook in one tap, with no phone call needed.
Plants need small, regular care. Offer ten-minute phone or video check-ins between full visits, so contact never lapses.
The service stops where people already are. Hold a monthly follow-up session at the community center on the bus route most patients use.
Offer back-to-back slots to patients who live near each other and are due the same week, so they can share a ride.
Five stimuli, 22 ideas in 40 minutes. Most came from the reframed problem, not the original one.
AI helps at both ends of the equation. It can question you until the problem is sharp, and it can supply stimuli from any corner of the world, described in rich detail. The middle, seeing how a boarding pass could fix missed appointments, works best when you try first and the AI fills in what you missed.
Get several versions of the P before you choose one to work with.
Rewrite my problem 5 ways: as the patient, receptionist and doctor see it, zoomed in on one bad moment, and zoomed out.
Ask for stimuli from very different worlds, with their features listed.
Give me 5 stimuli from transport, nature, retail, sport and toys. List 5 features of each. No links yet.
Collide one feature at a time so the ideas stay concrete.
Take a boarding pass's features one at a time. For each, suggest one idea for reducing missed follow-ups.
If your AI can read images, use a photo of your surroundings as the stimulus.
Here's a photo from my walk to work. List 10 details you notice, then ask me which to collide with my problem.
Describe your problem, pick a mode, then copy the prompt into Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini or Copilot. In coach mode the AI helps you sharpen the problem first, then feeds you one stimulus at a time and waits for your ideas.
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.