Work out ideas

Stephen Sondheim (1930-2021), the American composer and lyricist, had rather romantic views of art: "I had always thought an angel came down and sat on your shoulder and whispered in your ear 'dah-dah-dah-DUM ...  Never occurred to me that art was something worked out". This he came to realise while studying composition at college: "You think it's a talent, you think you're born with this thing. What I've found out and what I believed is that everybody is talented. It's just that some people get it developed and some don't". And so with ideation. Altough the Eureka!, or Aha! moment may be tinted with romantic views of art and creativity - that art, and creativity is somehow a talent. Yet successful ideas have to be worked out. Work out in the sense there's a problem to solve by considering the facts. (Interestingly, Sondheim regarded himself a mathematician by nature). Ideation, then, as problem solving that includes skills (deliberate practice) and ways of seeing (mental representations) that can get developed (can be learned) over time.

The world through rose-tinted glasses

The phrase ‘to see the word through rose-tinted glasses’ means to see things in an overly optimistic, often unrealistic way. But does wearing rose-tinted glasses actually make the world a better place or make people feel happier? And in the wake of COP26, the latest of the United Nations Climate Change Conferences, which serve to assess the progress in dealing with climate change, a process that began in the mid-1990s, would the world look more realistic through green-tinted glasses? If so, given the seriousness of climate change, should ideators form new ideas through seeing the world through a green rather than a rose prism? Yet social science research suggests that viewing our world a bit askew — with rose-tinted glasses — can have postive effects in that it puts us in a better mood, and therefore makes us more receptive to taking in more information, such as on climate issues. But there are risks with the rose-tinted approach, for example, toxic positivity, or delusional thinking. Moreover, seeing things through rose-tinted glasses may have a self-deceptive bias. That is, there’s a difference between perceiving the best account of things and perceiving the true account of things. However, because of this difference, "there are instances in which our beliefs can be wrong but useful", says Phil Corlett, an associate professor in psychiatry at Yale University. In the context of ideation, then, this suggests that ideators have to choose what they belive in to gain control over their ideas, and this whether seeing the world through rose-or green-tinted glasses (or any other colour).

What medium the idea?

'The medium is the message' is a statement by Marshall McLuhan, the Canadian philosopher (1911-1980) meaning that the form of a message (print, visual, musical, etc.) determines the ways in which that message will be perceived. McLuhan argued that modern electronic communications (including radio, television, films, and computers) would have far-reaching sociological, aesthetic, and philosophical consequences, to the point of actually altering the ways in which we experience the world. So, McLuhan proposed that media themselves, not the content they carry, should be the focus of study. For example, he describes the light bulb as a medium without any content stating that 'a light bulb creates an environment by its mere presence'. Now then, what about the proverbial light-bulb moment? A moment of sudden spasmodic effort that accomplishes nothing, or a moment of sudden inspiration, revelation, or recognition?

Idea ex machina

The notion of idea as an element of thought, or a way of thinking, as the result of mental activity, or conception in the mind of something to be done, such as a plan, or intention for doing something, goes back to the Age of Reason or the Age of Enlightenment (late 1600s to the end of the 1700s). This in contrast to the Romantic Era or Romanticism, a movement that started around 1770 (with its peak from 1800 to 1850) in response to the rational views of the age of enlightenment. The romantic thinkers felt that reason was overemphasised and that more focus should be put on the attributes such as aesthetic experience, human emotions and free expression. Now, Enlightenment is more closely related with natural sciences while romanticism is more associated with the arts and humanities. Ideation, then, in the context of design, from the First Machine Age, or the Industrial Revolution, to the Second Machine Age, or the Digital Revolution, interspersed by the Arts and Crafts movement and Modernism, draws inspiration both from the sciences (rational reasoning) and the arts (human subjectivity). In the wake of artificial intelligence, AI, this may suggest idea ex machina as an idea device, or generator or plotter of ideas. But while AI has established a direction and momentum of its own, the march of technology does not necessarily separate the ideologies of enlightenment and romanticism. True, Romanticism was a counter movement to the Enlightenment in its rejection of Enlightenment ideas about the primacy of reason and science. Science, however, is not an activity that goes on independently of all others. Thinking and feeling, then, are better seen as forming an indivisable continuum creating meaningful possibilities in contemporary design.

 

AI-powered ideation tool

The idea that software development (coding) would allow artificial intelligence, AI, help generate ideas seems, well a great idea. After all, with millions of design ideas out there, past and present, why start from scratch, or a blank piece of paper when most innovations are incremental, rather than truly original. That is, based on collection of data of designer knowledge, experience and perception, or through visual search engines, such as Pinterest, AI can help designer with ideas  The challenge of AI-powered ideation though is to develop AI that is context sensitive rather than producing copy-pasting ideas, or a catalogue of ideas for any given design situation (which also raises copyright issues). Moreover, AI-powered ideation might shift the role of the designer from that of a generator of ideas to a discriminator of ideas. AI Research & Development, however, is moving fast, both in terms of output quantity and quality.

Capacity for ideation

We all have ideas. In fact, ideas abound, within us and around us. If we associate ideas with change, we may also relate ideas to our capacity for coming up with new ideas. or ideation-capacity for change. What, then, we may ask, lies behind our capacity for change, or ideation? The psychologist Brian Little, whose research lies at the intersection of personality, developmental and applied psychology, suggests that when we are motivated by an important and meaningful personal goal we break free from personality constraints that may be holding us back. In this, Little highlights three forces that govern our lives: our biogenic natures (whether we are physiologically extravert, introvert or whatever), our sociogenic natures (how we are raised, the culture we live in and the company we keep), and finally, our idiogenic or “third natures”, which are comprised of our personal projects and the free traits we express in pursuit of them. Ideation, then, as a tool, or vehicle for change, and if seen as part of third natures, could be enhanced by turning first thought, or Aha! moment into a personal project thinking about its importance and meaning relevant to your values and identity pulling you forward into new possibilities. Ideation indeed!. Reference: Little, B. (2014)  Me, Myself, and US -The Science of Personality and the Art of Well-Being. Toronto: HarperCollins

Collaborative ideation

Ideation tends to emphasise individualism, both in education and practice reflecting how designers prioritise individual likes and dislikes over collective preferences. Ideas, then, may appear "selfish", metaphorically speaking, in that ideators seek to maximise their chances of getting their ideas accepted and, ultimately realised. But selfish ideas are capable of adaptation as manifested in forms of collaborative ideation. For example, Walter Gropius embraced the philosophy of working collaboratively with others when he was the director of Bauhaus in Germany and, later, when he became a member of the US architectural firm The Architects Collaborative. For TAC, then, the idea of collaboration was carried out in that an entire group of architects would have their input on a project. Paul Rudolph was inspired by this collaborative approach when he enrolled in Gropius's master class at Harvard University, as an architect student. Rudolph explains: 'Although I had studied architecture for five years, I had no sense of direction. I found in Gropius's teaching a base on which one could build, not merely a formula, as so many others have ... Gropius's strength lies in his ability to analyze and make precisely clear the broad problems of our day ... He was able to incorporate many diverse ideas and still give a sense of direction'*. Interestingly, in Rudolph's own practice he borrowed ideas liberally from the first generation of modern architects, such as Wright, Le Corbusier and Mies and was always willing to acknowledge his sources in the works of these pioneers. * Rudolph P. (1952) Paul Rudolph. Perspecta, The Yale Architectural Journal pp 18-25.