ideated

Ideated is the past tense and past participle of the verb ideate, meaning to form or develop ideas; to conceive or generate ideas for a project or solution. In common usage, it describes the act of thinking creatively to produce concepts, principles, or approaches, often in structured settings such as design thinking, product development, or strategic planning. The noun form is ideation; the related adjective is ideational.

Etymology: The verb ideate is formed from idea, with the productive suffix -ate. The concept of ideation has roots in philosophy and psychology and entered modern English in the 19th and 20th centuries; ideate became common in design and business contexts in the late 20th century.

Usage: Ideated is frequently used to describe completed or ongoing thinking that produced potential solutions, e.g., The team ideated several potential solutions. As a style note, some writers prefer "generated ideas" or "conceived concepts" to avoid jargon. In professional writing, ideation and ideational are often paired with methods such as brainstorming, user research, and prototyping.

Examples: "The workshop ideated five prototypes that addressed user pain points." "After ideation, the team moved to prototyping and testing."

See also: ideation, ideational, brainstorming, concepting.