IDEATION
- and how to be creative

“A creative activity is is a
mental process involving the generation of
new ideas or concepts”

IDEATION IS
MENTAL SIMULATION

WHAT IS AN IDEA?
An idea is nothing more nor less
than a new combination of old
elements
- James Webb Young

WHAT CAN YOU COMBINE?
ideas, products, technologies,
needs, concepts etc...
...we combine knowledge into
new relationships

+ =

+

+

=

+ =

ANALOGIES

ANALOGY

ANALOGY

THE ABILITY TO INTERPRET, IS
FUNDAMENTAL TO CREATIVTY

THE PROCESS...

PREPARATION
identify and define the problem.
explore, collect, share, experiment, analyze,
talk, observe, visualize...
INCUBATION
change context, shift your mind, be physical,
be emotional, play, learn new stuff, sleep...
INSPIRATION
hopefully...

!
INCUBATION
and then
INSPIRATION

CONDITION YOURSELF FOR CREATIVITY

BE
FREE - TO FAIL, SPEAK AND THINK
CURIOUS
OPENMINDED
COURAGEOUS (CHALLENGE THE STATUS QUO)
PLAYFUL
CRITICAL (NO INNOVATION WITHOUT CRITICAL THINKING)
OPTIMISTIC

CONDITIONS FOR YOUR CONDITIONING

INTERACTION AND DIVERSE INPUT

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

CHANGE CONTEXT

GET OUT OF THE OFFICE

INFORMATION (OVERLOAD)
FEED YOUR HEAD

EMOTIONS AND AROUSAL

Odin, norse myth name of the chief god.
The name is related to the word oðr, meaning
“frenzy; inspiration; rage.”

SLEEP

BRAINSTORM TECHNIQUES

BASIC B-STORM GUIDELINES:
agree on an agenda and stick to it
mean what you say
short monologues - more conversation
one conversation at a time
build on each others ideas
visualize the ideas
try not to criticise, be constructive
play..!

BUILD ON EACH OTHERS IDEAS!

REMIX THE IDEAS

VOTE FOR THE BEST IDEAS

USER BRAINSTORM
what if the hair dryer (or something) were only
for cab drivers, or kids, or germans, or refugees,
or millionaires, or handicapped, or rastafarians,
or...
or... play other “what if” games

“OPPOSITE” BRAINSTORM
Ex:
A car should be lethal in a 10 km/h crash,
have no seats, use a lot of gas, be ugly, have 7
wheels...
hmmm... maybe it should?!

TECHNOLOGY BRAINSTORM
Different technoligies applied on your project
(RFID, WiFi, laser, nano tech, sensors, internet,
thin film, photovoltaics, extrusion...)
Ex:
How to use nano technology in kindergartens..?

INTERACTION & DIVERSITY
Project team members: Project team
(can be a mix of internal an external workers):
USER: ANTHROPOLOGI, PSYCHOLOGY
MARKET: MARKETING
PRODUCT DEV.: ENGINEERING, DESIGN
BRAND: COMMUNICATION

CONTEXT CHANGE & INCUBATION
B
Member circulation
and exchange
A C
in project teams:
D

“REPLACE FEAR
WITH CURIOSITY”

LOSE YOUR EGO

REMEMBER YOUR NOTEBOOK!
always

AND NOW...

Assignment:
1st part: 1 hour
define a brief for another group, following this principle:
brand: Starbucks
object: mobile phone
materials: glass, plastics, chewing gum (max 3)
user: war veteran (describe persona)
2nd part:
Make a design concept based on the given brief
Presentations at 14.00(?)

Example: PERSONAS:
Serge de Silva, 41 years old, works with private wealth management
at UBS. He travels approx. 120 days a year. He has a panorama view
of Ibirapuera Park in Sao Paulo from his duplex flat.
Today Serge is dressed in a Dries van Noten suit with a Martin Mar-
giela shirt, on his wrist is a IWC Portuguese Automatic watch. Serge
does not have a drivers license.
John Wilkens has master in arts and science from UCLA. He lives in
Newport Beach, California. He is a founding partner in CastleWood
Ventures - a tech venture company. John is very engaged in the cli-
mate issues and drives a Toyota Prius on his daily commute. But
John is also a big car fan, so he has a 1972 Jaguar E-Type 5.3 in the
garage for sunday drives. John is an avid Obama supporter

Make the description of
your concept in sketch-
es, text, images, mime,
video, 3D, cardboard...
or...

THE
END