Ideation futures

Design ideation, despite the computer revolution, may still project or conjure up the romantic notion of the lone genius or inventor coming up with brilliant or breakthrough ideas. However, the reality of everyday ideation is more collaborative and down to earth; designers building on what is already out there in the world, reconsidering, remodelling or recombining existing states of thinking or being. Yet adding the latest digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence, AI, ideation continues to trigger "what if?" questions and scenarios exploring new ways of thinking and doing. However, AI, in the context of design thinking characterised by "trial and error" and "problem solving", is largely fed and scripted by human, or natural language and these inputs, directly or through feedback loops, influence outcomes which, moreover need to be evaluated and explained by humans, and whether in forms of simple suggestions, complete proposals or elaborate narratives. Ideation futures, then, is not so much about any perceived dichotomy between AI and human intelligence, or whether AI can match or even surpass human intelligence, but rather how computers can complement and augment human creativity, not replacing it. In short, interactions between AI and human intelligence to enhance human judgment and aesthetic sensibilities.

Idea ex machina

Deus ex machina, is a Latin phrase meaning 'god from the machine', a term originating from ancient Greek theatre where devices ('stage machines') were used to either lower or raise actors, from above or below onto the stage to dazzle the audience with the appearance of the gods in the drama, as a kind of 'coup de théâtre'. Used as a plot device evers since in theatre, literature, cinema and video games, from Shakespeare's Hamlet to Wachkowski's Matrix and Rowling's Harry Potter to solve a seemingly intractable problem by adding in an unexpected character, object, or situation, to bring about a pleasing outcome, the device has, however, been crticised as an inept, or too simplistic plot device. Yet, arguably the device opens up creative possibilities and, in the digital age, the notion of 'deus ex machina', where the computer would be the machine, may suggest 'idea ex machina', that is, in the ideation process software becomes a plot device towards problem solving.

Contextual ideation

Design ideation is about generating and communicating ideas, not about evaluating ideas per se because ideas represent proposals, or work in progress, rather than final plans, products or systems. Yet to help evaluate how good, or rather meaningful an idea is for a new product or service would be to look at the design context, that is, the intended users' working or lifestyle environment.  That is to say, designers, when generating and communicating ideas, need not only understand what matters to the customers who will use the product or service (end-users), what might be called contextual enquiry, but also be able to represent the proposal (solution) in such ways that the the idea (proposal) would meet users' satisfaction, what might called contextual ideation. In short, if design is contextual, so is ideation.

Ideation and text mining

Of the four main categories of ideation tools, viz. words, sketches, models and computing, words, spoken and written are often overlooked or underestimated as an ideation tool despite the fact that language is the main means of human communication. Therefore it should be no surprise that words play a key role in generating, developing and communicating ideas. But the word choice is also important, as shown by analysing texts in a large number of ideas across different domains (text mining). In identifying common patterns in ideas that were considered creative, researchers found that if the idea was too familiar the text mining software offered words that made it more novel. Conversely, if the idea was too novel, the algorithm offered words that made the idea more familiar. In other words, it was found that what makes an idea creative, as judged by both consumers and business executives is a mix of words that includes a balance between words that commonly appear together (familiar combinations) and words that do not (novel combinations). This suggests that using text mining software may help ideators improve their ideas.  * https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170109134131.htm

Ideation and disruptive innovation

Although the notion of disruptive innovation is not new - industrial history is full of examples, from rail mania and mass production to computer and social media revolutions, it has become a buzz word in the business world to solve problems and create opportunities by focusing on disruptive rather than incremental or evolutionary forms of innovation. Applied to businesses, then, disruptive innovation shows similarity with design ideation in that both strive to generate groundbreaking ideas that have capacity to transform existing markets, or create new ones for goods and services. Thus disruptive innovation, like ideation, may produce fresh perspectives in which "Aha" Moments occur. Moreover, in making the connection between disruptive innovation and design ideation, the business and design sectors seem to share elements of disruptive thinking, which may further suggest that business schools and design schools can learn from each other.

Ideation exemplified

When Sou Fujimoto, the Japanese architect (1971-), who designed the 2013 Serpentine Pavilion (London), talks about his creative thinking and design process, he is also effectively affirming design ideation, its process and tools:  'I start to discuss with my team a craziness of the ideas and we make some sketches or sometimes we make some such a tiny sketch models. All of this is just to see a lot of different potential. We like to have unexpected ideas from our normal thinking, so that first phase is really expanding our brains and expanding our ideas. And through that process, those kinds of tiny models, we try to test or try to transform normal things into architecture, then that process always opens our minds to create new perceptions of architecture spaces. But of course, at the same time we are using the computer to check the volumes. In that sense, our processes, trying everything, not only physical models, not only computers, not only sketches, sometimes just a discussion by words or conversation is also quite important. So using all of those kinds of methods or media just to see the wide range of the craziness of the ideas'. (Quoted from interview in ICON Magazine 2018, August Issue)

Earth-friendly ideas

Environmental concerns and sustainability issues are increasingly important in design ideation, and whether designing for products, services or systems. But ideas are elements of thoughts that can be either visual, concrete or abstract. In the case of abstract ideas or concepts, and particularly if the idea is digital-bound, that is, not physically enacted, it might be difficult to assess the idea's impact from ecological or sustainability perspectives. It is then that communicating the idea in simple language is essential, to make the idea as transparent and understandable as possible, for expert and layperson alike.

Ideas drive design

Designers are spoiled for new ideas, without which most everyday design activity would soon become dull or no longer fresh. Indeed, design is much about experimenting with thoughts and ideas on how people live and interact with their environment. Ideas, however, come and go, and often swiftly, testing the attention span of designers. What designers need to consider then, when an idea appear, seemingly, out of the blue, is whether or not it will hold their attention. So if a designer think they might lose interest halfway through the design process, perhaps they should reconsider getting involved. Because while the idea can get the design process started, follow the idea through is not always a part of its initial offering.This observation help explain why ideation is about generating, and communicating ideas, not necessarily realising them. Indeed, ideas contain designers' most creative impulses and, arguably, drive the design.

Aha! moments and neuroscience

There are many words to describe the emergence of sudden ideas - sparks, flashes, or light-bulb moments. But what makes these moments both fascinating and perplexing is that they usually happen abruptly, without warning and seemingly out of thin air. Studies of the phenomenon of sudden insights using behavioral methods have been ongoing for decades, resulting in speculations as to where these ideas come from and how they form. More recently, however, cognitive neuroscience has been able to explain the inner workings of the brain during aha! moments. Using brain-image technology and recording brainwaves of individuals in idea generating experiments, scientists in both the USA and the EU have found that these sudden sparks are the result of a complex series of brain states in which new neural network pathways give rise to new ideas. Findings also suggest that more neural processes are required in Aha! moments than when solving a problem analytically or methodically. However, the more activated the brain is, the more likely it is to be distracted, as too much attention can overload the brain's information-processing capabilities. Instead, we are most creative when we are in a positive mood experiencing lower levels of arousal in the cortical areas of the brain. It is in states of daydreaming, doodling and drifting when we are most receptive to new ideas. Now these findings may not come as a surprise to people with a creativity mindset; Albert Einstein, for example, attributed some of his greatest physics breakthroughs to his violin-playing, claiming it connected different parts of his brain in new ways. Main source: http://brainworldmagazine.com

From I-deation to AI-deation?

Designers (humans) generate ideas, right. And machines? Advancement in computer science may suggest that machines can generate ideas too, and the notion of Artificial Intelligence, AI is being evoked in the sense that AI algorithms are capable of learning from data which in turn may derive all possible knowledge, by considering every possible hypothesis (idea) and matching it against the data. This in theory. In reality, in the context of problem solving, to consider every possibility is unobtainable because of the rapidly increase in communication lines as ideas are added in the design process. AI, then, in present day, seems, at best, an ersatz good substituing or replacing human thought but lacking "self-awareness" essential for human centred design.

Turnaround of ideas

Idea generation, the initial phase of ideation (the generation, development and communication of ideas) is quick, typified by the brainstorming technique. In the creative industry, such as advertising and marketing, however, ideation services can be slow, i.e. there can be a considerable gap between the client's brief and the agency's presentation of new ideas. To speed things up, one such media agency, Mindshare, is challenging traditional communications planning and has launched a service that produces a campaign within 24 hours of a brief being submitted by clients, who will only pay if they like the idea. Although such quick turnarounds of clients' briefs seem to fit today's fast-paced media world, there are concerns that the concept might encourage short-term tactical thinking over long-term strategic thinking necessary for brand-building. Such reservations, moreover, reflect how unconstrained brainstorming sessions rarely produce meaningful results. Arguably idea generation sessions work best when designed, rather than improvised. That is, attention is paid to what should be done before the actual session ("framing the question") as well as after the session ("follow-up").

Innovation is opaque

History is opaque. And so too, it may be argued, is innovation. Or, to paraphrase Nassim Nicholas Taleb, the author of The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable: Innovation is what comes out in the market, the application of better solutions to products or services, not the thinking that produces a new idea, device or method, the generator of ideas. Thus there is an incompleteness of our grasp of the action or process of innovating, since we don't fullly understand how innovation works, in a world that is more complex, complicated or random than we realise. Or, as explained by Tim Berners-Lee, the WorldWideWeb inventor, innovation occurs when a lot of random ideas mix until they fit.

"My idea is better than yours"

The "Aha!" moment, or when ideas seem to appear as bolts out of the blue holds a certain fascination among inventors and the general public alike fuelling the notion of the "lone genius". However, the reality behind innovation in today's complex markets for products and services is often a collaborative creative process where individuals bat around thoughts collectively and rub ideas against each other also eliciting input from across disciplines. The view that groups or teams rather than individuals form and shape ideas has implications for who gets credit for innovation, or even intellectual property, IP. That is, should IP be shared freely and placed whenever possible into the public domain and open-source-commons? Or should these rights be protected and inventors be allowed to profit from their proprietary ideas and innovations? Moreover, which of these two approaches best promote innovation? For example, Bill Gates (Microsoft) and Steve Jobs (Apple) didn't believe in free sharing of software, in contrast to Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the WorldWideWeb, who insisted that the Web protocols should be made available freely, and shared openly in the public domain.