The ideation process: how to make it worth the effort?

Ideation might sound new, but the word has been around since the 1800's. According to investopia Ideation refers to the process of developing and conveying prescriptive ideas to others, typically in a business setting. It describes the sequence of thoughts—from the original concept to implementation.

Where does ideation turns to be handy? The truth is that, to come up with new business, you must visualize a bowl of ideas that are going to be developed in order to see which one can be turned into a conceivable business. Ideation can be linked to innovations; it always starts when you ask yourself the question “What if?”

What are experts saying about ideation?

One of my concerns has been design education, where the focus has been centered too much upon craft skills and too little on gaining a deeper understanding of design principles, of human psychology, technology and society. As a result, designers often attempt to solve problems about which they know nothing. I have also come to believe that in such ignorance lies great power: The ability to ask stupid questions. What is a stupid question? It is one which questions the obvious.

‘Duh,’ thinks the audience, ‘this person is clueless.’ Well, guess what, the obvious is often not so obvious. Usually it refers to some common belief or practice that has been around for so long that it has not been questioned. Once questioned, people stammer to explain: sometimes they fail. It is by questioning the obvious that we make great progress.

This is where breakthroughs come from. We need to question the obvious, to reformulate our beliefs, and to redefine existing solutions, approaches, and beliefs. That is design thinking. Ask the stupid question.

People who know a lot about a field seldom think to question the fundamentals of their knowledge. People from outside the discipline do question it. Many times, their questions simply reveal a lack of knowledge, but that is OK, that is how to acquire the knowledge. And every so often, the question sparks a basic and important reconsideration. Hurrah for Design Thinking.

- Don Norman, in Rethinking Design Thinking

“What if” we do it another way?

We often have trouble conceiving innovative ideas because we are held back in our thinking by the status quo. One shall challenge conventional assumptions with “what if” questions, it helps us break free of constraints imposed by current models. They should provoke us and challenge our thinking.

For example, as a parent you might ask yourself: What if there is a hairdressing salon for children just so they don’t get bored? This would allow you to develop a new value proposition in order to serve children instead of adults like traditional hairdressing salon.

What if we start selling e-books on our website instead of selling hard-copies thanks a foreign publisher? This would allow us to freely manage the sales strategies and even develop related products, but would require investing more to reach a wide market related to our niche.

Ideation: This is how to do it

Team composition

According to Suzanne T. Bell and Melissa M. Vazquez, Team composition is a key enabling condition for effective teamwork. A well-composed team has the required complement of knowledge and skills, while also considering how the individual differences of team members, such as personality traits, values, and demographics, combine to shape teamwork and, ultimately, team performance.

Immersion

Ideally the team should go through an immersion phase. which could include general research, studying customers or prospects, scrutinizing new technologies, or assessing existing business models. Immersion could last several weeks or could be as short as a couple of workshop exercises (e.g. the Empathy Map).

Expanding

It means throwing raw ideas during the brainstorming, don’t forget that you are not making any decision yet. Mature Ideation looks for fertile soil first and discerns which audience is open to new ideas. It is patient, understanding that not everyone creates at the speed they do - and that not everyone is comfortable with the "not yet proven." People with Ideation need to create a safe space for ideas, letting people know they are brainstorming versus making a decision.

Criteria selection

After expanding the range of possible solutions, the team should define criteria for reducing the number of ideas to a manageable few. The criteria will be specific to the context of your business, but could include things such as estimated implementation time, revenue potential, possible customer resistance, and impact on competitive advantage.

Prototyping

In this last step you narrow down the alternatives. When you start out you might use rough prototypes like napkin sketches. Subsequently, use the Value Proposition Canvas and Business Model Canvas to make your ideas clear and tangible. A prototype is design to be assessed, that is why you should ask questions like “Is this the  best way to address our customers’ jobs,  pains, and gains?,” or, “Is this the best way  to monetize our idea?,” or, “Does this best  take into account what we have learned from testing?” Once you are satisfied with the design of your business prototypes you start testing in the field or go back to testing, if you are working on subsequent iterations.

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