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.

Too many ideas?

Some may argue that creative ideas are overrated and what matters isn't the idea itsef but converting ideas into products or services, in what is sometimes described as idea management or the innovation process, and that the implementation of ideas is what creates real market value. Yet to create new products and services ideas are needed in the first place, and whether the idea is new through reconfiguring or combining existing products or services, or novel through primary research and invention. So back to square one; how do designers generate, develop and communicate ideas that are sufficiently appealing and persuasive to take to the stage of realisation? Design ideation, then, matters because successful ideas can be seen as well argued proposals to win over the relevant audience(s) using the most appropriate ideation tools (words, visuals and models).

The nine lives of drawing

The alleged demise of sketching and freehand drawing among designers in the digital era seems exaggerated. True, complexity and need for efficiency in the design process favour the shift from freehand drawing to computational media, for example, building information modelling, BIM. Yet in the ideation stages, where ideas are formed rather than evaluated according to performance criteria, freehand drawing is alive alongside technological and computational developments. Indeed, like cats, known for their dexterity and agility and ability to survive in unlikely situations, drawing too appears to have nine lives.

Workout ideas for design

Whereas workout ideas for fitness are well understood and put into practice, a similar approach to workout ideas for design may be just the push-up or jog to get the creative juices flowing afresh and with vigour. And as having physical workout gear in sight and ready to use can act as excercise motivation, so carrying around, say a sketchbook, or putting pencil and paper in a visible place, can stimulate designers to actually use them. That is, every time you carry creative tools with you, or have the tools in front of you, you’ll get reminded to use them to capture the first thought, or the "Aha-moment", which might be elusive and not hanging aound for very long.