What is Ideation? Ideation is the third step in the design process that focuses on idea generation.

Here is an example of the ideation method, mind mapping, which I used to map out why ideation is important, how to ideate, and some of the many ideation techniques that can be used to help the process. Ideation methods are numerous. Some of these methods include, Brainstorm, Braindump. Brainwrite. Brainwalk. Worst possible idea, Challenge assumptions, Mind map, Sketchstorm, Storyboard, Bodystorm, Analogies, Provocation, Scamper, Movement, Gamestorming, Cheatstorm, Crowdstrom, Prototype, Creative pause.

My App Ideation

This past week, I worked on my own app ideation to practice these ideation techniques. I started the process with the ideation technique, worst idea possible, where I made a list of the worst app ideas and why.

Worst Idea:

• App with notifications every ten minutes of cute animals

  • Why is this bad: Distraction I will always click on

• App with only unhealthy dessert recipes

  • Why is this bad: encourages unhealthy behaviors

• A shopping app that only shows items out of your price range

  • Why is this bad: It encourages consuming out of your price range and is not helpful and practical

• An app that posts every thought you have on social media

  • Why is this bad: Everything you think should not be on social media and privacy is disregarded

• A navigation app that’s map faces the south pole

  • Why is this bad: It does not fulfill the purpose of a navigation app, which is to help people get to where they are trying to go. It instead will have people going in the wrong direction

• Social media for criminals, records required

  • Why is this bad: this is just unsafe

• An app that automatically purchases anything you run out of

  • Why is this bad: Not everything people have needs to be replaced, people could want to try something new or just not purchase again. While seeming convenient, this could be quite a problem, especially with the cost.

• An app that ranks you on everything you do compare to your friends

  • Why is this bad: Makes everything a competition and can damage self-esteem

• An app that notifies your friends every time you open your phone and notifies you when they open their phones

  • Why is this bad: can make people feel ignored if they are not receiving a response and can increase distraction with unnecessary notifications

• Celebrity tracker

  • Why is this bad: this is unsafe for celebrities and also encourages obsessive behavior in fans. 

• An app that spends your money on stocks it calculates, without your permission

  • Why is this bad: while initially, this seems beneficial, it only does it based on algorithms that people have come up with, rather than looking at what people are talking about.

• An app that only allows you to use your phone for 10 minutes every hour

  • Why this is bad: In an attempt to help you focus on life this app would take away your choice to look at your phone for more than 10 minutes an hour by having it lock itself after limited use. While this might seem beneficial to some people, it would hinder the actual use of a personal cellular device.

• An app that constantly broadcasts your camera to a live feed social media platform

  • Why this is bad: As a way to keep connected and constantly show what you’re doing to your friends and family, your phone always broadcasts your camera. This also means while you’re in the bathroom or even having private conversations.

I chose to start my ideation process with this technique in order to spark my creativity and interest and encourage out-of-the-box thinking. I then moved on to creating a mind map for app ideation, with myself as the target audience for the app.

I started by identifying the apps I use every day, my go-to apps, thinking about their purpose and what I liked about them, and why. I also noted which type of apps I use and which ones sit on my phone, often never opened. From there, I wrote down some challenges I face daily and then some solutions for those challenges. With that in mind, I was able to come up with some potential app qualities that help make my life easier and alleviate these daily challenges. I want this app to be useful and work for me, helping me to build my life and achieve the goals I set out to accomplish each day.

To learn more, please click here to view my pdf presentation:

Sources:

Dam, Rikke Friis, and Teo Yu Siang. “Introduction to the Essential Ideation Techniques Which Are the Heart of Design Thinking.” The Interaction Design Foundation, 2020, https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/introduction-to-the-essential-ideation-techniques-which-are-the-heart-of-design-thinking.

“Methods.” Design Kit, https://www.designkit.org/methods.

TED. “Voltes V: Legacy - One Epic Ride | Featurette - Youtube.” Tim Brown Urges Designers to Think Big, 2009, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmAz0BB0x5w.