Ideation and the blank piece of paper

The metaphorical concept of beginning with a "blank piece of paper" or a "clean slate" typically heralds a fresh start or starting afresh without reference to previous circumstance or condition. But designers faced with a blank piece of paper may experience creative blockage. Yet there's plenty of advice to overcome a creative block, from practice, practice, and more practice to brainstorming to using search engines, such as Google or AI text generator such as ChatGPT. Why, then, one could argue, bother with a blank piece of paper when there's lots of online stuff and ideas to get started with? The questioning of this approach is that ideators would follow someone else's initiative rather than finding their own way onto something new or innovative. Moreover, in education, the risk that ChatGPT might compromise learning, notably critical thinking in design. Yet what is a fresh start or a new idea anyway? Could it be that the notion of beginning with a blank piece of paper is misunderstood because, from a biological and developmental perspective, humans don't start as blank slates. That is, humans are seen as born with genetic predispositions and are influenced by the environment and upbringing from the moment they are born. Accordingly, these genetic and environmental factors, including the use of technology such as AI systems, contribute to our individual growth and personality and influence our ideas.

Moving thought

The workshop activity reflects two aspects of design thinking and ideation. First, generating ideas, that is, drawing associations between diverse and unrelated things known as divergent thinking ("thinking outside the box"). Second, weighing up which ideas are worth pursuing, that is, developing ideas that requires a more controlled and deliberate mental process, known as convergent thinking. It is when thinking outside the box, or during mind-wandering, when thoughts are freer and less task-related, that we are more likely to draw connections between diverse ideas and have novel thoughts – the embodiment of divergent thinking. Now, research suggests that low-intensity physical activity can enhance creative thinking, and divergent thinking in particular. That is, creativity appears to be enhanced through the very act of moving the body in whatever way feels natural, allowing emotions to arise and be processed through spontaneous motion. Pedagogically too, body movement can amplify creativity. For example, Johannes Itten, at the Bauhaus, the German design school showed how gentle body movements could augment creative drawing and constructivist model making.

Brainstorming

Idea generation is often associated with so called brainstorming where a group of people interact to suggest ideas spontaneously in response to a prompt. The ideation workshop, however, isn't a group brainstorming session. The reason is that the experience with the workshop, and its outcomes, show that collective brainstorming techniques may be inclined towards group think. Also, and although brainstorming may boost the feel-good factor in the group, scientific research suggests that collective brainstorming doesn't produces more or better ideas than the same number of individuals would produce working independently. So, the workshop studio format is such that the participants brainstorm individually, possibly in pairs, and then later come together as a group and discuss each person's ideas, which in turn may yield more ideas. Working individually, however, will only be better once everyone has a clear understanding of the task or problem set for the workshop. Therefore, the participants first come together to get a common understanding of the task or problem at hand and then split off to think about solutions followed by group presentation and the sharing of ideas.

Trail of ideas

'We do not belong to those who have ideas only among books, when stimulated by books. It is our habit to think outdoors — walking, leaping, climbing, dancing, preferably on lonely mountains or near the sea where even the trails become thoughtful.' So wrote Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), who made walking a centerpiece of his philosophy.  And so, too, we can consider the idea as an element of thought in transit, and ideation as a journey that manifests itself in walking, or, "taking an idea for a walk". Walking is, of course, practically and physically beneficial too, but also, as free movement, closely related to creative thought. Indeed, ideation has its own immediate reward and no surprise then that ideators never sit still for long experiencing walking as creative empowerment. Letting one’s thoughts wander, thinking on one’s feet, adapting as one goes along - these are no simple figures of speech but reflect mental and sensory openness. Walking, then, leads to places of discovery - a trail of ideas.

Ideation themes

Each workshop has an ideation theme or task agreed beforehand. Themes can take on many forms, appearing differently depending on the context. They can relate to place, function, artefact, or narrative, and be either common, universal or specific. Common themes often resonate across genres or disciplines, whereas a universal theme is a central idea or concept resonating with people across cultures and periods. Unlike more specific themes, which may be tied to a particular story or culture, universal themes explore fundamental aspects of the human condition that reflect real-life experiences. A good idea typically  involves making connections between concepts and life experiences. Inspiration for ideas can come from the past, future, or the world around you, and there is a range of devices to help achieve this. For example, physical and digital tools including drawing, modelling and computing. Or literary devices like metaphor, symbolism, and character development to explore deeper meaning. But whatever theme, they can inspire us to explore ideas which reflect the essence of our human experience and place in the world.

Face-to-face-interaction

Viewing design as a social and cultural pursuit, coupled with knowledge, skills and experience, central to the workshop is face-to-face interaction. This seems especially relevant when the internet allows us to work from anywhere in the world. Indeed, going online has diminished the need to talk to our colleagues in person and increased time spent attached to digital devices and screens - and often a lot of those hours are spent alone. Moreover, as most commercial and social transactions have migrated online, where they’re cheaper and quicker, the design office, or the studio is going virtual too. Also, digital computation, including apps and generative AI, is challenging raw brain power when it comes to searching, gathering and sorting information as well as generating new ideas from extensive data sets. So, when electronic media informs, stimulates, and guides creativity, who needs face-to-face-interaction? Now, designers themselves have to find answers to that question. But while digital devices are great for sharing information, they are not necessarily great for deepening human connections and social cohesion, particularly when considering the misuse, and abuse of social media platforms. In short, the workshop suggests that we should use our mobile devices and digital tools to augment, not to replace, face-to-face interaction – that is, if we want to create in healthier and happier ways.

Ideation fitness

Ideation is certainly about imagination but also a state of mind, of curiosity, play and innovation. And as such ideation is a vital intellectual exercise making the best of achieving the aims of a design brief. In this pursuit, ideation is a kind of exercise, or workout to make the proposed idea a fitting response to the brief. And similar to a purposeful, physical activity to keeping fit, say, jogging or swimming, so ideation has a fitness function of measuring or assessing when the goal of the brief is met. In this sense, the ideation workshop, as part of design practice, can be seen as a  fitness class for designers. Indeed design fitness through ideation.