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.