Analogous Inspiration is a way of seeking inspiration from examples of solutions to problems that have been solved elsewhere, but that have some similar characteristics to your own problem. There are five steps to this process.

1. Gather examples from research carried out in the Search stage or get participants to brainstorm analogous situations to the problem you are trying to address.
2. Before the session, ask participants to produce short case studies for each analogous situation. These should be no more than one A4 page, and should include information on the problem, the problem holder and the solution, including photos, diagrams and other visual cues to enable understanding.
3. As a group, discuss each case study, paying particular attention to aspects of the solution that could be transferable to your situation and listing these on paper.
4. As a group, go through the list of potential transferable aspects, identifying how you might transfer each.
5. Finally, assess whether those aspects that you feel can be transferred are realistically feasible, and whether they pose any significant risks in humanitarian environments that might not be present in other contexts.

IDEO’s Design Kit provides a similar exercise and some useful further guidance. If you use this tool, you should ensure that you add in step 5 above.