Touch, sketch and go

Traditionally designers use pen and paper to capture, develop and share ideas with others. But with the advance of digital devices such as tablet computers and smartphones controlled by multi-touch displays, sketching on-screen is now a working alternative to pen and paper. Moreover, the multi-touch display combined with the processing, storage, editing, and communication power of the computer is turning the smartphone into an effective on-the-go ideation tool.

Ideation barriers

Ideation calls for curiosity and openness to experience and innovation. But without losing spontaneity ideas need to be organised and managed too. And if ideas seem slow to develop or get stuck don't go for the easy option of blaming external factors. What stops ideas from happening is often as much down to internal barriers and obstructions as external ones.

After the idea ...

'After the idea there's plenty of time to learn the technology', says James Dyson of vacuum cleaner fame. However, having relocated production to the Far East, Dyson is keen to make the UK the leading high tech exporter in Europe arguing that 'We need more entrepreneurs. We need more innovators. We need more scientists, engineers and designers who can turn ideas into working products'. Some challenge then when faced with the decline in British manufacturing.

Metaphor as ideation tool

Often associated with literature, art and poetry, metaphor is commmonly used when generating and communicating design ideas, and whether the idea is abstract, concrete or visual. Using metaphor is arguably a more persuasive technique than simile using "like" or "as" because a metaphor carries stronger emotions than a simile (whereas metaphor is a figure of speech, a simile is more of a logical argument). The strategic use of metaphor, then, is a powerful ideation tool that can make the difference between success and failure of idea presentation.

Idea sharing

Communicating ideas is more than getting other people excited about your idea. In collaborative situations it’s also about sharing ownership of ideas where you can be seen as the creative leader of your idea allowing others to contribute and push the idea forward. The risk with sharing ownership is that you might feel “losing control” of your idea. That risk, however, should be balanced with the opportunity of having your idea appreciated, supported and realised more quickly.

Ideation is purposeful

Ideas happen in context. Take every opportunity then to share your ideas with others. Whilst ideation is personally fulfilling its purpose is to engage other people. The key to this is idea communication. Through collaboration and rooting your ideas in targeted community you'd raise the odds to making your ideas happen.

Doing ideas

Talking ideas is comparatively effortless. Therefore most people like to talk about their ideas but do very little. But often there isn't much that needs to be said to realise ideas. In contrast, there is a lot that needs to be done. The way to close the gap between talking and making ideas happen then is to say less and do more.

Ideation and use of metaphor

Language in the widest sense plays an important role in the early fuzzy stages of design and helps to identify and capture design concepts. Metaphor use is part of this process. In a study on how novice architecture students assess the use of metaphors and the creativity of their own designs, it was found that the most important role that metaphors play in design problem solving is to support the design of innovative products. In contrast, the use of metaphors did not help so much in the functional and aesthetic aspects of design (Casakin, H.P. 2007. Metaphors in Design Problem Solving: Implications for Creativity).

Ideation efficiency?

Could economic efficiency criteria apply to design ideation? For example, ideation efficiency is achieved when an idea is produced making the most efficient use of the ideator's scarce resources (talent, time, and energy), and when that idea best meets the needs and wants of the consumer at a price that fairly reflects the value of resources used up in the realisation of the idea.

Ideas in context

Experience by itself, like raw data, teaches nothing. Similarly, ideas have little or no meaning apart from their context. But even when the context is known, ideas are no substitute for hard work. Ideas well thought out and communicated, however, may save many hours of hard work. Indeed, robust ideation may help foresee problems of production and in use that may be encountered with the product or service.

Lost in translation?

The linguist Guy Deutscher argues that our mother tongue does affect how we think and, just as important, how we perceive the world. Now if language affects thought it would impact ideation too because language is the main mode of human communication. But what happens to ideas generated in non-English mother tongues when communicated in English? Assuming that ideas, or first thoughts, take colour and cultural value from the mother tongue, might ideation get lost in translation?

Ideation as learning

When we ideate we learn too. And when ideas are concrete rather than abstract, for example, when we generate ideas through hands-on engagement with modelling or drawing material, ideation becomes experiential learning. That is, learning from experience or discovery rather than taught or rote learning. Experiential learning is manifested in ideation workshops where conceptual skills are developed and improved on. http://www.ideation-workshop.blogspot.com/

Sleep on it

So you've got a few ideas for a given situation. But which one to choose?

Psychologists from the University of Amsterdam devised a series of experiments to test a theory on "deliberation without attention" and found that once you have the information, you have to decide, and this is best done with conscious thought for simple decisions, but left to unconscious thought - to "sleep on it" - when the decision is complex.

Moreover, and according to the Sleep Research Centre at Loughborough University, lack of sleep affects areas of the brain that respond to novelty. That is, without sleep we are unable to take on new information, think innovatively or respond intelligently to changing circumstances (while we sleep we process information too).

Furthermore, research at the University of British Columbia found that too much reflection could be detrimental in some decsion-making situations. To decide which idea, then, suggests we engage in (conscious) reflection but don't make a major decision without sleeping on it.

Ideation worlds

Ideation tools include digital applications. The advent of interactive graphical systems raises possibilities for new forms of collaboration of designers and computers in the creative process where computer programming supports the creation of dynamic, real-time, story models. The experience of ideation as storytelling, then, could be enhanced through interactive simulations of computer-generated story worlds.

Zero tolerance?

In our enthusiasm for all that is new, unusual, and avant-garde, we might be less concerned with objective viewpoints and explanations, and more concerned with "self-expression" and the need to be creative and unique. But how realisable are our ideas if we gloss over the more realistic points, details, flaws in circumstances and of people? Yet for our ideas to be spontaneous and direct - "blue sky thinking" - how much constraint should we tolerate? Is ideation then about egos and instant gratification - wow! - or the first step towards bold yet sustainable change - Aha?

Ideas (c)

OK, so you've got a brilliant idea. Should you protect it? Well, if your idea is worth copying it might be worth protecting it under Intellectual Property rights, IP. But it depends on a number of factors including the nature of your idea. For example, is it artistic, say, a conceptual sketch, or a three-dimensional object such as a chair? One basic form of protection is to use a confidentiality agreeement before you disclose your idea to others. Or if defending your IP rights prove too difficult or expensive, say court action, you can try "naming & shaming" those who infringe your IP rights. If you write a contract, try to retain all intellectual property rights and let the client only receive a licence to use what you have created. But above all, your idea must be clearly expressed, not just reside in your head, and you have to prove ownership of it. For IP legislation see http://www.ipo.gov.uk/

Sociology of design ideas

Ideas derive from both sense-experience and reasoned thinking and reveal the tension between what is actually there and what we believe or perceive to be there. Tension between reality and imagination, moreover, reveals the relationship between human thought and social context. If design is perceived as a social activity design ideation can be seen as a socially constructed process illuminating what effects design ideas have on societies, or a sociology of design ideas.