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BioBrainstorming is a way to generate design ideas by asking how living systems perform a function, then recording and investigating biological strategies that could inspire a solution. Start with what your design needs to do—not what it should look like—then search broadly, collect candidate examples, and verify how each strategy works before adapting it.
What BioBrainstorming is—and what it is not
Biologist, writer, and educator Sherry Ritter describes BioBrainstorming as a method for generating many biological models that might inform a design challenge, then narrowing them to the strategies most worth researching. It is an ideation and research process, not a ready-made solution or proof that a natural mechanism will work in a particular application.
Ritter’s 2014 Make: article suggests aiming for 30 to 70 potential models. That is her practical target, not a validated threshold or a promise that every challenge will yield that many useful candidates. The article’s crop-pest example is fictional: Ritter says the client and real challenge cannot be shared, so it should not be treated as evidence that any of the natural examples she mentions control crop pests. Read Ritter’s BioBrainstorming article in Make:.
How to run a BioBrainstorming session
1. Define the function, not the form
Describe what the design needs to accomplish before deciding what it should look like. A function-focused question leaves room for solutions unlike familiar products or structures. Ritter connects this framing to searching for function-organized biological strategies.
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2. Ask direct “How does nature…?” questions
Turn the function into an open question about what living systems do. Ritter’s examples include “How does nature protect from insects?” and “How does nature capture organisms?” A question should be broad enough to surface different organisms and mechanisms, rather than steering the search toward a preferred answer.
3. Add indirect questions
Ask about related functions that may reveal a useful analogy outside the obvious search area. Ritter suggests questions such as “How does nature attract insects?” and “How does nature maintain diversity?” She also gives “How does nature use feedback loops?” as a prompt. Direct and indirect questions are complementary; the sources do not establish that one is more effective.
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4. Search in several ways
Do not rely on a single database or search phrase. Ritter suggests using AskNature, observing outdoors or in a botanical garden, talking with an entomologist, watching nature videos, and searching images for the function. Her illustrative image-search discoveries include spider webs, insect-eating plants, antlion sand traps, predators, pheromone traps, glow worms, and plants that attract insects. Treat these as leads for investigation—not verified recommendations or demonstrations of performance in a design.
5. Record the strategy and mechanism
For each candidate, capture more than the organism’s name. A 2022 article in Biomimetics describes BioBrainstorm entries as identifying the organism or natural system, the strategy it uses for a function, the mechanism behind that strategy, and an abstracted design principle. The principle is the transferable idea you might explore; it is not a claim that the original biological system and a human-designed solution are interchangeable. The article describes an online worksheet as one way teams can track organisms and mechanisms found in primary research. Read the 2022 Biomimetics article via PubMed Central.
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6. Narrow the list by research value
Once you have a range of candidates, decide which strategies merit closer investigation. A broad list is useful for discovery, but it also creates follow-up work: verify the mechanism in primary research and assess whether its underlying principle is relevant to the design need. Ritter’s 30-to-70 figure is a suggested scale for generating possibilities, not a requirement to pursue every candidate.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What classroom evidence says
The 2022 Biomimetics article reports on a Design with Nature course at The Hague University of Applied Sciences. Students were asked to add six unique organisms to their team worksheet within a week. After biomimicry methods had been taught, 25 students responded to a survey; the authors report that students generally found translating biological strategies into design difficult but rewarding. This is evidence about that course cohort, not proof that BioBrainstorming alone improves design outcomes or that the findings apply to every team or challenge.
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