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/