3.3. Ideation

Welcome to the Ideation sub-chapter. Here, we’ll explore the very beginning of the creative process, and you’ll get ideas for how to start your own creative processes.

Wallas’ classic 1926 description of the creative process includes four stages: preparation, incubation, illumination and verification. The preparation stage starts with gathering information, data, materials, resources, expertise, and ideas. It involves activities such as sketching, brainstorming, studying, discussing, and planning. You can read more about the four stages in the sub-chapter Creative Process. In this sub-chapter, we illuminate the preparation stage of the creative process from two perspectives: observing and ideation.

In this context, an idea is a set of thoughts for something new and useful. For example, in fine arts, the idea of ​​a work of art has traditionally been considered separate from making the work of art (Siukonen, 2020). The action plan is thought out in advance, and the artist works separately as a thinker and implementer of the idea. Robert Morris (1993) defines this working method as a priori. At the turn of the 1960s and 1970s, American artists were considering a working method that was not based on thinking in advance but emphasized the entire creative process (Mäkikoskela, 2015a; Mäkikoskela, 2015b).

At Aalto University, part of radical creativity is experimentation. That means the creative process can already start without an actual idea or the idea can develop significantly when doing experiments. Creativity is nowadays very much tied to the possibility of prototyping and exploring ideas. It’s not just the thought that counts but how that thought can be cultivated further. We’ll explore this further in the Experimenting and Piloting sub-chapter.

When we do experiments, we observe whether the thought worked or not. Before we have any insight into ​​the set of thoughts, we make observations as part of the creative process. We connect with people and places to sense the systems that we’re part of (Scharmer, 2016). This involves thinking deeply and accessing the brain’s memory and identifying sources of inspiration. The most interesting thoughts, initiatives and projects all come back to serendipitous encounters with open-minded people. It’s important to be able to make observations even in surprising situations. Some people write, draw, or collect their observations in a notebook, a sketchbook, or a mood board. For example, visual arts students still draw live models in their education, where they learn to make visual observations (Nurminen, 2024). The goal of observing is to find inspirational material to fuel idea generation later.

Tackling everyday challenges can also be a creative process

At the start of the creative process, how much do you focus on making observations?

Take a moment to consider your everyday life and try to think of one challenge you’ve been facing recently. Reflect on your usual or habitual way of trying to find solutions in such situations.

With the everyday challenge you chose, what kind of things could be observed before you start solving it?

The preparation stage may also involve brainstorming, ideation and allowing your thoughts to wander. Ideation is the act of generating ideas, be it through images (drawings, pictures or photos) or words (written or spoken).  There are many ideation techniques out there. For example, Kirjavainen & Hölttä-Otto have identified 76 techniques (2021).

One of the most well-known ideation techniques is brainstorming, a term created by Alex Osborn (1953). Brainstorming is a technique typically used by groups to generate lots of ideas to solve a problem. It usually goes like this: a group of people gather in a room (or an online meeting), agree on a topic (or problem they want to solve) and start creating and sharing ideas.  Osborn provided valuable advice for running productive brainstorming sessions:

• Quantity is wanted: Ideas are the fuel for creativity in a brainstorming session. The more ideas generated, the greater the potential for creativity. People should be comfortable with suggesting not-so-good ideas because they could be useful for sparking new ones.
• Build on and combine previous ideas: When lots of ideas are on the table, it’s easier to start building up and coming up with new ideas. That’s the reason brainstorming sessions encourage quantity: to make sure there’s material to be combined and arranged later in order to settle on a few good ideas.
• Do not criticize ideas: Osborn suggested that brainstorming sessions should be divided into two parts: idea generation and idea evaluation. Criticism and evaluation might make people become defensive and therefore not share their most interesting (or wildest) ideas.
• Freewheeling is welcomed: Encourage wild ideas. Osborn suggests that participants have complete freedom to bring unexpected and unconventional ideas. Even if they’re not directly useful for solving the problem at hand, they serve as catalysts for new and potentially innovative concepts.

In short, a brainstorming session is a technique for generating ideas where quantity is the king. Participants are encouraged to have a clear separation between idea generation and idea evaluation.  This ensures that they have the freedom to come up with unusual ideas and also build upon others’ ideas in order to find a few that are useful for the problem at hand.

Although brainstorming is a common technique, it’s not perfect. For instance, dominant participants might overshadow others, limiting diverse voices. Upholding the ‘no criticism’ rule can be challenging, as we naturally evaluate feasibility. Group dynamics can also influence brainstorming, potentially leading to groupthink or undue emphasis on certain ideas.

Now that we’ve looked at one of the most famous ideation techniques, let’s look at one that can be summarized in only two words: ‘What if?’

‘What if?’ is a simple and effective way of coming up with creative ideas and is widely used. For example, designers and story artists at Pixar — the movie studio behind movies like Toy Story and Finding Nemo — ask themselves this question to develop more creative narratives. Questions like ‘What if the toys in the playroom came alive at night?’  and ‘What if a rat could cook better than a chef?’

Let’s watch a short video about how Pixar story artists use the ‘what if?’ method for coming with creative ideas.

‘What if?’ questions serve as a powerful tool for ideation, encouraging radical thinking and unlocking the imagination. It can help you open up new possibilities and unconventional scenarios and solutions.

What if we do reverse engineering using the ‘what if?’ technique?

Reverse engineering is a well-known technique where you pick up a ready-made product and start backtracking all the steps that were made to build the product. Here, we’re going to reverse engineer a ‘what if?’ question. Instead of looking forward and building new ideas, we’ll take existing ideas and move backwards.

• Pick up a product around you. We recommend a physical object that you can grab in your hands.
• List features of the product: write at least 3 uses for the product.
• Reverse ‘what if?’: now it’s time to use your creativity and your virtual time machine to go back to the room where designers/engineers and other professionals were creating the product. Try to come up with at least 3 options for ‘What if?’ questions that the team had in mind when designing the product.
• Bonus points: involve a friend or family member in this exercise. This should be a fun creative practice that can be done in a group.

References

Kirjavainen, Hölttä-Otto. 2021. Deconstruction of Idea Generation Methods Into a Framework of Creativity Mechanisms.

Morris, Robert. 1993. Continuous Project Altered Daily: The Writings of Robert Morris. Cambridge: MIT Press.

Mäkikoskela, Riikka. 2015a. Ympäri, sisällä. Kolmiulotteinen työskenteleminen kuvataiteessa. Helsinki: Unigrafia. Aalto University publication series Doctoral dissertations 143/2015.

Mäkikoskela, Riikka. 2015b. There is no art without confrontation. In Göthlund, Anette, Illeris, Helene & Thrane, Kirstine W. (eds.): EDGE: 20 Essays on Contemporary Art Education. Copenhagen: Multivers Academic, 335-348.

Nurminen, Marja. 2024. The Teaching of drawing in higher arts education — Articulating the practitioners’ orientations. Tallinn, Estonia: K-Print. Aalto University publication series DOCTORAL THESES, 46/2024.

Scharmer, Otto. 2016. Theory U: Leading from the Future as it Emerges. 2nd edition. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.

Siukonen, Jyrki. 2020. Hammer and Silence. A Short Introduction to the Philosophy of Tools. Helsinki: The University of the Arts Helsinki.

Wallas, Graham. 1926. The Art of Thought. Turnbridge Wells: Solsis Press.