Habit of ideation

The ideation workshop reflects design as a thought, idea or plan as well as a hands-on practice. A process, or moment (or a series of moments) of choice and thoughtful decision-making that involves the making of design decisions which can range from size, shape, material and fabrication technique to colour and finish that establishes how an object is to be made. The object can be a city or a town, a building, a vehicle, a tool or any other object, a book, an advert or a stage set*. In this broad meaning of what design is, both as noun and verb, and when contextualised as a social and cultural activity, ideation can be regarded as habitus - a term borrowed from sociology. That is, socially-ingrained habits, skills, and dispositions through which individuals perceive the social world around them and react to it. These habits shape both the body and the mind and, according to French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, relate to a sense of place that allows individuals to find new solutions without calculated deliberation, based on their gut feelings and intuitions. The ideation workshop also relates to a sense of place, a place that makes social and cultural space for creative problem solving and innovation. Such space making, then, shapes the habit of ideation - as part of design practice. *Pile, John (1979) Design: Purpose, Form and Meaning. NY: Norton and Company.

Experiencing ideation

The purpose of the workshop is to raise awareness of ideation tools in the design process. In this, the workshop gives designers the opportunity to explore a wide rage of ideation tools - from words to sketching and modelling - in order to help generate and communicate ideas. An agreed task or theme starts the ideation process in which the participants are encouraged to follow their creative impulse that goes  beyond educational tradition and normative interests. Through excursions into the realm of ideas, the participants try out and reflect on ideation tools that are not just a function of language or technology (analogue and/or/both digital) but tools that stimulate, and facilitate non-hierarchical and non-linear design thinking. Ideation tools that have, at least potential power of denuding the esthetic cloak of the everyday, or enabling ways of seeing beauty, or ugliness in mass-fabrication or consumption, where "good design" cohabits the market of "kitsch". The participants, then, having experienced the intoxicating faculty of ideation, reflect on the tools used and the outcomes created. In other words, they learn, and appreciate the ideation tools they most enjoy, and get the most from.

3D printed ideas

3D printers are now commonplace in design studios, both in practice and education - in the latter as an educational technology. Although 3DP technology is mainly used for prototyping (physical modelling) to demonstrate near-final projects, 3DP is also used for small-scale prototyping at the research or ideation stage of design (exploration models), or for ideas communication (presentation models). But how do outcomes of direct creation of objects from 3D computer-aided design files, when used as a conceptual tool compare to hand-made sketch modelling? Research has shown that 3DP for prototyping stimulates and faciltates more geometrically complex and accurate designs in comparison to traditional model-making methods. Howver, ideation is an iterative process and so, it is argued, there is a risk ideators may get locked in to a single idea at a too early stage of the design process when using CAD software and 3DP, which might restrict the creative development of ideas. Or, as observed by architect Peter Cook: 'I've noticed the computer sometimes lead to rather bland decision making; now anybody can do a wobbly, blobby building'. Yet contemporary design processes are increasingly technology-driven, knowledge-intensive and collaborative. And so ideators must remain openminded to new ways of doing and thinking and balancing these mindsets of converging and diverging. Source: Greenhalgh, S. (2016). The effects of 3D printing in design thinking and design education. Journal of Engineering Design and Technology 14(4):752-769

Prototyping as an ideation tool

Ideas can be abstract, concrete or visual and are generated and expressed in various mediums using a range of ideation tools. So, for example, concrete ideas can take many forms but what they have in common is that they are all tangible forms of ideas. Such a tangible form is the prototype, which can be anything, from a roughh sketch to a simple version of a final product, say, a mock-up. Prototyping, then, is a way of ideating, or about bringing conceptual ideas to life and exploring their real-world impact so that the designer(s) involved can make appropriate refinements or possible changes in direction. In other words, protyping helps turning abstract ideas into concrete ones.

Workshop, not talkshop

Brainstorming is a widely used group activity whereby the participants generate spontaneous ideas which are gathered and shared on, say, Post-it Notes. The ideation workshop, however, doesn't begin with brainstorming. Instead the partcipants start ideating alone, on their own initiative, and share their ideas at the end of the workshop. The workshop, moreover, in contrast to brainstorming, is more inclusive in that it allows a level playing field beween the participants. That is, in groups, the more extrovert participants, at ease with expressing themselves verbally, tend to drive brainstorming whereas the quiet ones are at risk of being overshadowed. Also, brainstorming sessions may be biased towards "groupthink" and as a result the outcome may not be representative of the full range of the group's ideas. Another difference is that in the workshop participants engage with a range of ideation tools, from sketching to rough modelling - not just words. The outcome of the workshop, then, produces more thoughtful and genuine ideas, and the ideas presentation becomes a shared learning experience.

Learning by doing

The ideation workshop reflects the notion of learning-by-doing, or experiential learning, a pedagogical approach that highlights the general idea that hands-on experiences favour the development of the creative individual than those brought about by uniform second-hand knowledge. In other words, self-initiated and self-directed thinking and doing rather than activities where the individual is being told what to do. This approach, moreover, implies the using of eye-hand coordination, and the other senses where necessary, to govern tools within the context of generating and communicating ideas (ideation tools). Such an approach, which allows the individual to excercise choice and judgement is core to ideation. That is, the workshop allows trial and error, the application of individual imagination and experience and, crucially, feedback. In short, learning by doing.

Tools for ideation

Ideation may reflect a complex system of thinking and behaviour that is so unpredictable as to appear random. Yet everyday ideation also suggest that there is a risk of getting ovewhelmed or lost in the modishness of design, as, say, found in the plethora of print or online media. So this is where ideation tools may help create meaning out of what may at first appear a rather chaotic situation. Now, there are plenty of such tools around, from pen and and paper to screen based devices, such as mobile apps. The point is though you have to work for the ideation tools to work for you. That is to say, if you really want a tool to work for you with which to tackle a project, then you have to put it through some tests and tasks (the ideation workshop provides such opportunity). If it holds up to those, then you can keep it as your go-to ideation tool. Or tools rather, because there is intellectual pleasure as well as sensuous delight in having the skills, and therefore the creative prowess of a range of ideation tools.