This was another big a-ha from the mastermind I mentioned earlier. Someone shared the concept of "designing an eleven star experience"
from this article from AirBNB co-founder Reid Hoffman, and I love love love it.
(It's Lesson #2 in the article and you should really read how he explains it.)
The point is to get to unexpected ideas by pushing all the way into crazytown territory, before pulling back a bit.
Here's how to apply it:
Take whatever project you're working on, and imagine whatever the 5-star experience of that thing would look like. Because 5-stars is the best, right?
Cool. Now, imagine what a 6-star experience would look like. Better than five stars, obviously.
Then 7-star. 8, 9, 10. And finally, what would an ELEVEN star version of this look like? Write out a vision for what each step might be like.
By necessity, the latter versions will look pretty crazy and out-of-this world. But go there and write out a vision of it.
Somewhere between the 5 star ideas and the 11 star ideas are probably some actual things your team could make happen to create an amazing experience in the context of whatever your project is.