Ideation

According to Investopedia, ideation is the literal action of forming ideas, from their conception to real-world application and implementation."

According to Investopedia, "ideation is the literal action of forming ideas, from their conception to real-world application and implementation."

Brainstorming

See also: Brainstorming

Brainstorming helps individuals or groups develop creative solutions to a problem and it is especially useful when people are required to break out of stale thinking patterns related to unsolved problems or they are producing suboptimal solutions.

Scamper technique of brainstorming

See also: Scamper technique of brainstorming

Ideation techniques

The human brain is the most complex physical entity in the universe.

• 10 Powerful Ideation Techniques to Unleash Creativity and Innovation
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• 10 Effective Ideation Techniques for All Teams

Ideation tools

Source of below information: Creative thinking tools

Idea generation tools

1. 10 ideas in 10 minutes

2. Ideation: Brainstorming & Sketching

3. Thought Showers: Group Problem Solving

4. Write a list of 101 ideas. Open your word processor and write a laundry list of at least 101 ideas to deal with your situation. Go wild and write whatever you can think of without restricting yourself. Do not stop until you have at least 101 (Source: 25 Useful Brainstorming Techniques).

5. Mind mapping. "Write your objective in a bubble in the middle of a page and branch out nested and associated ideas to uncover new perspectives as stimuli. Try putting your mind map on the wall while brainstorming."Creative thinking tools</ref>

6. The Meta Sequence

"Deep (Research & Define) - The more information you expose yourself to, the more your brain has to work with. Deep dive before an ideation session and define the objective.

Wide (Creative & Divergent) - Try to minimise critical evaluation while brainstorming and exploring new ideas. Creative insights are helped by a mindset of playful curiosity.

Narrow (Critical & Convergent) - Use objective evaluation criteria where possible. The best ideas are vulnerable as they don’t conform to expectations; so don’t use critical analysis to leave only the safest ideas standing, but to find out which challenging ideas might actually be viable.

Up (Synthesise & Iterate) - Once you have an idea that works, it’s tempting to cling to it. However, the best ideas often come from having the curiosity and courage to push beyond what works to something more interesting. Keep playing to find a deeper synthesis."

7. Wiktionary: Use random stimuli like reading out words from the dictionary to provoke a response, or try using the last letter of one word as the starting letter for another word. Use Free-association to generate words and concepts to spark connections.[1]

8. Meta-sequence

Deep - Research / Define The greater the amount of informationo one exposes oneself to, the more the mind has to work with… Deep dive before an idea generation session and define the objective.

Wide - Creative / Divergent Try to minimize critical evaluation while brainstorming and instead explore new ideas. Creative insights are aided by a mindset of playful curiosity.

Narrow - Critical / Convergent Use objective evaluation criteria when possible. The best ideas are vulnerable as they don’t conform to expectations; so don’t use critical analysis to leave the safest ideas still standing, but to find out which challenging ideas may actually be viable.

Up - Synthesize / Iterate

"Once you discover an idea that works, it’s tempting to cling to it too tightly. However, the best ideas frequently come from having the curiosity and moral courage to push beyond what works to something that is more interesting and promising. Keep playing to find a deeper synthesis."

Perspective shifts

1. Inversion: "By flipping the perspective, you can open up new insights. What’s the opposite of the problem or solution? What would be the worst idea? Who isn’t the target audience?"

2. Another's shoes

3. Recontext ("How would you solve the problem in the future or past? What about a different cultural context? ...Try five ideas in five minutes on different ways to frame the problem)

4. No limits (Resources, etc.)

5. Extremify (Amplify problem/solution)

6. Challenge (Assumptions/conventions)

See also

• Creativity
• Innovation

External links

• What Is an Ideation? Definition, How It Works, and Process, Investopedia
• Idea Generation | Definition, Importance & Process
• What is Ideation?, Interaction Design Foundation
• What is Ideation – and How to Prepare for Ideation Sessions, Interaction Design Foundation
• What is ideation? How can it help my business?

Videos:

• Ideation techniques, Video playlist

• Brainstorming playlist - Video playlist