Despite having its origins in the early 1800s, the word ideation was a rarely heard term until its related processes came to the attention of the masses when the design firm IDEO was featured on ABC’s episode of Nightline in 1999. It is our view that since then the word is often used as meaningless jargon, instead as what most professionals define as “the process of generating, developing, and communicating new ideas”. All too often the techniques some define, with great marketing flare, as ideation would likely better fit the definition of their™ creative or business process.
Credit: The Grand Social On Roosevelt (2020).
Keep in mind the three characteristics defining ideation. The purpose of ideation is not to just generate a lot of ideas, which often occurs with brainstorming techniques. It requires the development of one or more of those generated ideas to a concept or concepts, prior to proceeding to the later steps of testing or design iterations. And, of utmost importance, if that concept or those concepts can’t be clearly articulated – communicated – then the process is incomplete. In other words, the concept must have a sufficient amount of information and understanding for a technician or practitioner to prototype or actualize the concept. Only then can it be defined as innovative.
Further, ideation is not limited to a select group of people, or ‘tiger team’; it can be conducted by individuals, organizations, or crowds. However the effectiveness, and efficiency, of the ideation process is also highly dependent on the talents, skills, and wisdom of the individuals. It is one step, of many, of product design and development processes and techniques used by experienced practitioners.