Our paper “Influence of context variation on quality of solutions: experiences with gasifier stoves“, which we presented in Stellenbosch last year, is now available online at Procedia Manufacturing. In this paper, we present our Context Variation by Design (CVD) approach, in which insights from different contexts are intentionally combined early on in the process to develop solution directions. This creates a richer solution space than when contextual variations are developed sequentially. The rich solution space is then the basis for these contextual variations which might include connections and synergy between them. In addition, we discuss several real-life project examples that demonstrate that this approach indeed creates a basis for better solutions. In particular, confronting insights from different contexts at an early stage reveals new solution directions. For those interested, the paper is open access and downloadable from the Elsevier Procedia Manufacturing site.