inspiration-scouting

Inspiration Scouting

The design-scout does competitive research — who else solves this problem and how. Inspiration scouting is different. It finds aesthetic and interaction references that shape the feel of the design, even when they come from completely different domains. A banking app can be inspired by a meditation app's calm. A children's education tool can borrow pacing from a well-designed game.

When to Use

• After design-discovery and design-strategy, before visual design begins
• When the design-lead needs a visual direction and wants reference material
• When the user says "show me some inspiration" or "what could this look like?"
• When the taste profile exists but the project needs a fresh direction within it
• When the team is stuck and needs outside input to break a creative block

Do Not Use When

• The user has already provided specific visual references — use those directly
• The design system is locked and visual direction is predetermined
• The task is a fix or iteration, not a new direction

Process

Step 1: Define the Inspiration Brief

Before searching, define what you're looking for:

## Inspiration Brief

**Project:** [Name and one-line description]
**Feel we're going for:** [2-3 adjectives — e.g., "calm, confident, playful"]
**Feel we're avoiding:** [2-3 adjectives — e.g., "clinical, childish, corporate"]
**Taste constraints:** [From taste profile — known preferences and anti-patterns]
**Domain:** [The project's domain — e.g., "pet care", "fintech", "education"]
**Cross-domain openness:** [How far outside the domain to look — same domain / adjacent / anywhere]
**Specific needs:** [e.g., "onboarding flow inspiration", "dashboard layout patterns", "empty state ideas"]

Step 2: Search Across Layers

Inspiration operates at multiple layers. Search each:

Visual Layer

• Colour: Palette approaches, colour psychology, brand colour usage
• Typography: Type pairing, scale, weight distribution, editorial vs UI
• Layout: Grid systems, density, whitespace philosophy, asymmetry
• Imagery: Photography style, illustration approach, iconography
• Surface: Texture, depth, glassmorphism, neumorphism, flat — what's appropriate