Human-computer ideation

Human-computer interaction, HCI is concerned with the ways humans interact with computers, both hardware and software. Of special interest to design ideation is how computers can help designers generate and communicate ideas, visually or textually, or both, or in model form, such as prototyping (3D printing). In this, ideators need computer competence in visualising ideas - to create visual materials and artefacts as well as to understand the impact of visual materials, including digital imagery, data and information visualisation. In other words, the computer becomes an ideation tool.

Why ideation skills matter

Ideas, at first, may seem plentiful, cheap and easy to come by. And so it may be that ideation skills are overlooked or underestimated in the design process. But Dr Laura Kornish, a US academic who teaches product development courses, where students generate and develop ideas for new products, says that better ideas, on average, lead to more successful products, as rated by users (the failure rate for fast moving consumer goods is close to 50 per cent), and therefore getting good ideas is a process that requires not only talent, time and money but discipline. To discipline one's imagination for visible creative outcomes, then, suggests focus on ideation skills, and whether acquiring new skills or improving existing ones.

Need and desire

Need and desire are both driving ideation. But whereas need is perceived as a positive thing, something basic and necessary, and therefore often easy to recognise, desire might be seen in a negative light, as a craving, or greed, a bad rather than a good thing. Yet design agendas, and notably in the consumer field, are often driven by desire and customer satisfaction for new products and services that go beyond basic need. Dalai Lama holds that self-satisfaction alone cannot determine if a desire is positive or negative, but whether it ultimately results in positive or negative consequences. Desire then, may be seen as a positive thing if it helps generate ideas that go beyond immediate self-satisfaction resulting in outcomes that are sustainable and good for everyone. Such outcomes, however, suggest that designers prioritise the real needs of customers and users, that is, for products or services that are really necessary rather than desirable. In modern consumer societies, however, such a distinction is difficult to make.

Thinking through drawing

When freehand drawing is being marginalised in the design process, and when many students head straight for the computer, hand drawing may be a generational issue. For example, British architect Chris Wilkinson (b.1945) finds the act of communication through drawing still very important: 'I often sketch what I'm thinking rather than what I'm seeing. It's part of the process by which my ideas come through. You could just sit in a field and contemplate, but at some point you need to get your ideas on to paper. You have to start somewhere, and for me a drawing is the way an idea begins to take form'. (Wilkinson's sketchbooks are on show at the Royal Academy of Arts, until 14 February 2016).

Forming ideas

The forming of ideas can, literally speaking, go through several stages. For example, the foundry plays a vital role for artists. Here the sculptor has an idea of what they want, and discusses with technicians issues such as scaling up, casting, welding or patinating, to see what is possible. And, after consultation, the artist often goes away with something quite different from the initial idea, which shows that the journey from first thought to idea realisation is not only difficult to predict but involves collaboration along the way.

What If?

Sometimes underestimated or overlooked in the ideation process is the power of questioning ... what if? And so, when speculating from the here and now into future possibilities, when exploring materials and processes and when developing innovative applications in new social, cultural, economic and political contexts we are prompted to ask crucial questions. Indeed, asking the right question can speed up solution finding or problem solving.This calls for multiple approaches to ideation, from rigorous enquiry and sensuousness to lateral thinking and hands-on experimentation across design disciplines.

Self-reflective pondering

Design ideation is about creativity and generating ideas. But it also about developing ideas which is a self-reflective activity at a conscious level. Ideation, then, as a reflective practice, goes beyond techniques such as "brainstorming", and focuses on the quality rather than the quantity of ideas. Moreover, as a purposeful and valuable activity, ideation involves the skillful use of ideation tools to help develop and communicate ideas using both verbal and visual language.

Good and bad ideas

It is difficult to know let alone predict why some design ideas succeed while others fail. This is because design ideas represent proposals, or work in progress, rather than final plans, artefacts or systems. And so there's a gap between ideas and their realisation, which can be considerable. Ideation, then, focuses on process, rather than final outcome.

Ideation and sense-making

The notion of sense-making, or individuals experience when attempting to make sense of observed data, as explored in interdisciplinary research programmes, may be helpful in making sense of ideas too, particularly in the communication phase of ideation when people and ideas interact, and both at individual and organisational levels. Sense-making, then, as applied to ideation where ideas become observed data, can be seen as a two-way process of fitting ideas into situations, or contexts, where neither idea nor context comes first; ideas bring out contexts and contexts generate ideas. And when the idea gives rise to uncertainty or ambiguity, or when there is no satisfactory fit between idea and context, the idea may be reconsidered or an existing context may be revised. Thus in applying sense-making to ideation, in fitting ideas with contexts, may not only promote better understanding of the connections between people, ideas and situations but also anticipate acceptance, accommodation or assimilation of ideas.

Deep versus surface ideation

Apart from spontaneous ideas seemingly coming out of the blue, there are two main approaches to ideation: One is where ideators aim at understanding the bigger picture and, looking for meaning, are ready to question what the ideas are for, in what might be called deep ideation. The other is where ideas are generated without much understanding of the context, or surface ideation. The different approaches can be compared to individual learning styles where a distinction is made between deep learning (critical analysis of ideas) and surface learning (memorisation of isolated and unlinked facts). The distinction between deep and surface ideation matters because deep ideation highlights how ideation is a process - not in a simple linear fashion (the naive bricks in the wall model of learning) but in an enquiring and questioning manner (why bricks, or wall?). Moreover, deep ideation suggests responsible design whereby ideators relate new ideas to previous knowledge and experience addressing critical societal and environmental issues also considering what ideas should be prioritised in a strategic way.

Creativity and innovation

Creativity is part of human intelligence but, in design, creativity is sometimes confused with innovation. But a distinction can be made in that creativity is about idea generation whereas innovation also involves the practical matters of idea implementation ("putting ideas to work"), and typically in a business or technology context, from products and services to methods and processes. In this sense, innovation is market- or technology-driven creativity that carries follow-through responsibility and organisational and commercial risks involving many stakeholders. In other words, having an idea is necessary but not sufficient for innovation.

Ideation culture

Coming up with a great idea is often seen as the most important step in design and innovation. But more than generating ideas, designers need the ability to communicate their ideas to project teams and other stakeholders, including management, developers, and users. Moreover, in order to realise their ideas, designers need to create an ideation culture where stakeholders engage in activities which support and promote innovation. For example, Thesis Couture, a US footwear design firm, brought together a team of experts, including a rocket scientist, an orthopedic surgeon, and a fashion technologist, to redesign the stiletto shoe replacing the traditional metal rod in the heel with one made of mouldable plastic. Such a cross-domain ideation culture highlights designers' relationship to industry that goes beyond issues of aesthetics, to give them a role in the application of new materials and technology.

Mindful ideation

The term mindfulness has many usages. Derived from Buddhist meditational practices, mindfulness is, for example, applied in clinical psychology as a "mode of being" that focuses on what is being sensed at each moment, rather than dwelling on the past or worrying about the future. In the context of design, applying mindfulness to ideation may suggest sustained attention to ideas as they unfold, moment by moment, with openness and without prejudice. Ideation, then, as a purposeful and mindful process, is concentrating on the creative task in hand rather than letting the mind wander constantly, thus in contrast to "brainstorming", which generates lots of random and directionless ideas.

Practising ideation

While talent matters in creative pursuits, the ability and skill to generate and communicate ideas can be improved through practice, as experienced in the ideation workshop (see ditto). This is because the human brain is highly plastic and very adaptable responding to practice. Indeed, rather than arguing that ideation depends on being naturally gifted, or expecting instant gratification from ideation, the belief that ideation improves with practice motivate us to make more effort and persist longer.

The idea of sketching

The idea of sketching is not so much related to what, in fact, constitutes a sketch (mediums), but rather visual thinking (process). In this sense, the sketch is not so much for design (purpose) as of design (direction).

Pollyanna ideas

Pollyanna is the children's book character whose name has become a popular term for someone with an optimistic outlook. But should ideators adopt the Pollyanna philosophy of life, which centers on what she calls "The Glad Game," or finding something to be glad about in every situation? But while ideation implies positive thinking, and therefore optimism of what can be, the Pollyanna view, or over-optimism might cloud rather than open creative minds resulting in ideas that are more fanciful than realistic.Or, extreme optimism might overestimate ideators ability to control ideation outcomes distracting ideators from positive to wishful thinking. Ideation, then, if turned into a kind of Pollyanna game, might result in unrealistic optimism, or ideas expectation, only to be unravelled when ideas are communicated to audiences who apply critical as well as positive thinking.

Psychology of ideation

Psychology, or the study of the mind and behaviour, can be applied to a variety of issues that impact well-being and everyday life. This suggests that psychology can be applied to design thinking and making, And because design is both an individual and a social activity, so the disciplines of Cognitive Psychology, or the study of thought processes, including perception and problem-solving, and Social Psychology, or the study of social interaction, including group behaviour and social perception, may be helpful in understanding and explaining how designers think, act, and feel when engaged in design activities, from first thoughts to final outcomes.

Ideation and augmented reality

In the real world, which is physically experienced rather than mediated through digital processes, design ideas are typically generated and communicated through talking, writing, freehand drawing and sketch modelling. In contrast, virtual reality replaces the real world with a computer-simulated one giving rise to an immersive experience with few or no constraints of the real world, such as societal norms, history or culture. Another immersive experience is augmented reality where artificial information about the environment and its objects can be overlaid on the real world to the extent that virtual reality is modified to blend with real life. With augmented reality, unlike virtual reality where ideas may appear as conceived by unrestrained imagination, users continue to be in touch with the real world while interacting with virtual objects around them. Augmented reality, then, in combining real and virtual elements, may suggest a hybrid ideation process where ideas appear more realistic than fanciful.

Designerly insights

Although idea is here considered an element of thought, thoughts create feelings, and so ideation is not just an intellectual process that relates to mental capacities but to all the bodily senses. Thus, in creative contexts, design ideation gives rise to particular mental and sensory interactions manifesting itself in designerly insights expressed through spoken and written words, freehand sketches, physical modelling, or software mediated 2D and 3D outputs.