Ideation is the third step in the design process. During this stage, ideas are produced in mass quantity, whether they are “good” or “bad.”  Ideation revolves around quantity, diversity, and generation, in which the key is quantity over quality.  When coming up with ideas, no idea is a bad idea. This means all judgment must be suspended, by yourself and others.  This is because an idea that might appear dumb or silly could spark another idea that is better and could be a potential solution.  Different ways to ideate and come to a solution include mind maps, sketches, skits, storyboards, game storms, charities.

The most important part of the ideation process is novelty over relevance.  It is so easy for people to become stuck in this mindset of relevance. In order to create truly impactful and innovative designs, we must lose this necessity for relevance and search for novelty.  Although, in order to fulfill this novelty, you must open your creativity.

A common misconception is that creativity is linked to artistry or that it is some sort of talent that one is either born with or born without.  Although creativity may have an association with artistry, creativity is simply the act of problem-solving and finding a unique solution. Also, creativity is not a talent, but a skill.  It is something that can be learned, expanded upon, nurtured, and grown through practice and dedication. In our world today, it is popular to see adults problem solving using relevancy and kids using novelty.  The ideal is a perfect combination of both.

In a creative boot camp led by Stefan Mumaw, he takes people through various exercises that prove their innovation and creativity go deeper than people tend to think it does.  The key points he wanted people to take away are: get stupid, want the box, and suspend judgment.

In the first point, get stupid, he is trying to convince people to let go of preconceptions and expectations for things.  You must throw out what you already know and start from a fresh slate in order to truly come up with an innovative design that is unlike any other.

The second point he raises is to want the box.  When you have to be creative and come up with innovative ideas, most people think complete creative freedom is the best thing to have, when in fact, this is quite far from the truth.  When you have restrictions, you are actually more creative. The best way to come up with novel ideas is to insert more restrictions into your work and create a box for your ideas to generate and work within.

Lastly, he mentions the importance of suspension of judgment, a very necessary part of creative ideation.  When working in a group, it is very important that everyone gets a voice, even the people that tend to be more introverted.  In order to do this, you must come up with processes or workshops that allow introverted people to be able to speak their voices and opinions.  The more ideas that float around, the better the end result. When there is no judgment, ideas are freer to flow which leads to a better and more creative outcome overall.

Ideation can seem intimidating at first glance, but it can definitely also be one of the most freeing parts of the process.  It is the simple flow of ideas that can lead to amazing innovations and novelty solutions.

Sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbLxs6te5to&ab_channel=MindfulMarks