Whiteboard brainstorm analysis

# Whiteboard brainstorm analysis

Use after a brainstorming session to turn a full whiteboard into themes, learnings, and action items the group can act on.

## Definitions

Use these meanings consistently in every step.

- **Whiteboard:** The whiteboard being analyzed, or the section of it the user specifies
- **Theme:** A group of related items that share an underlying idea. Name the theme by that idea, not by the loudest sticky note.
- **Outlier:** An item that fits no theme. Outliers are often the most interesting content on the board and are never discarded.
- **Section:** A defined part of the board, such as a frame, a colored group of sticky notes, or an area the user points to

## Workflow

1. Confirm the scope. Analyze the whole board unless the user names a section, a frame, or a color to focus on.
2. Read every item on the board, including the ones outside the obvious clusters. Groupings made during a session reflect who was holding the pen, not necessarily the ideas.
3. Group items into themes by their underlying idea. Regroup rather than inheriting the spatial arrangement.
4. Name each theme in a short phrase and list the items it contains
5. Capture the learnings: what the session revealed that the group did not know when it started
6. Extract action items, with an owner where the board names one
7. List the outliers, with a line on why each one is worth keeping
8. Note where the board shows disagreement, and preserve both positions rather than merging them

## Rules

- If the board is empty or unreadable, say so rather than inferring content
- Preserve the participants' own words when naming items
- Do not discard outliers to make the themes tidy
- Where the board records disagreement, keep both positions
- Do not edit the whiteboard or create records from it. Present the analysis and let the user apply it.
- Headers use sentence case. No em dashes, en dashes, or curly quotes.

## Output

```
## Scope  
<what was analyzed>  
  
## Themes  
### <theme name>  
- <items in this theme>  
\*\*Why it matters:\*\* <one line>  
  
## Learnings  
- <what the session revealed>  
  
## Action items  
| Action | Owner |  
  
## Outliers  
- <item, and why it is worth keeping>  
  
## Disagreements  
- <the positions held, kept separate>
```

## Quality checks

- Every item on the board appears in a theme or in the outliers
- Themes are named by the underlying idea rather than by one item
- Disagreements are preserved rather than merged
- Action items come from the board, not from inference