Reflection on Ideation Techniques and Their Influence on My Approach to Developing Innovative Solutions

Ideation follows the empathisation stage. Ideation makes sense of the information gathered in the previous stage and makes sense of it by generating inputs and requirements for a potential solution (Oliveira, Zancul, & Fleury, 2021). More clearly, this means that the user’s explicit and implicit needs will be translated into technical requirements that the solution will have. In this stage many strategies can be used to conceptualise a solution and generate judgement free creativity. Research has highlighted the positive effects of a visually stimulating environment on problem solving while sensemaking tools such as mind maps are used to support brainstorming (Oliveira, Zancul, & Fleury, 2021). Conceptualisation (and corelated tools such as brainstorming) are recommended due to their ability to keeping ideas as broad and fluid as possible. Additionally, empathy tools (e.g. personas, experiences maps) can be used to support this process. Following the expansion of initial ideas, ideas that show the most promise are selected to go into the prototyping stage (Oliveira, Zancul, & Fleury, 2021).

One of the key insights from my exploration is the importance of a visually stimulating environment for problem-solving. Research highlights that such environments significantly enhance creativity. Tools like mind maps, which support brainstorming, have proven to be effective in maintaining a broad and fluid conceptualization of ideas. These tools help generate a wide range of ideas without immediate judgment, which is vital for creativity.

Empathy tools, such as personas and experience maps, also play a crucial role in the ideation process. These tools ensure that the solutions developed are user-centered and address the actual needs of the end-users. By incorporating empathy tools, I can better understand users' contexts and needs, leading to more relevant and effective solutions.

In my exploration of ideation techniques and tools, I have encountered the term sense-making and this builds on my observation of this concept being widely used in Complexity Theory and Action Research Design. I find this to be quite interesting and instructional. Sense-making involves interpreting and organizing the information gathered during the empathization stage, which is essential for generating meaningful and actionable ideas. This concept reinforces the importance of structured thinking and systematically processing information to facilitate creativity.

Carroll and Richardson's (2016) study their use of brainstorming during the ideation stage commanded stakeholders to separate the generation of ideas from the evaluation of ideas to maximise creativity. This separation prevents premature judgment, allowing for a more diverse and in-depth pool of ideas. Implementing this strategy in my ideation process will help maintain a high level of creativity. Additionally, Rudin et al. (2017) demonstrated that the ideation stage benefits from the saturation of ideas during each iteration of the design thinking process. This iterative approach allows for continuous refinement and expansion of ideas.

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References

Carroll, N., & Richardson, I. (2016). Aligning healthcare innovation and software requirements through design thinking Proceedings of the International Workshop on Software Engineering in Healthcare Systems, Austin, Texas. https://doi.org/10.1145/2897683.2897687

Rudin, R. S., Fanta, C. H., Predmore, Z., Kron, K., Edelen, M. O., Landman, A. B., Zimlichman, E., & Bates, D. W. (2017). Core Components for a Clinically Integrated mHealth App for Asthma Symptom Monitoring.