ideating

Ideating is the process of generating new ideas and potential solutions to a defined problem or opportunity. In many creative and problem-solving methodologies, ideation is an early stage that emphasizes divergent thinking—producing a wide range of ideas without immediate judgment.

A typical ideation session begins with framing and goal setting, then moves to generating concepts through techniques such as brainstorming, brainwriting, mind mapping, SCAMPER, metaphorical thinking, and rapid sketching. Sessions are often timeboxed and conducted in a collaborative environment to encourage quantity, novelty, and cross-pollination of disciplines. After generation, ideas are screened and refined through convergent methods, criteria-based evaluation, and lightweight prototyping.

Ideating is used across disciplines, including product design, software development, business strategy, marketing, education, and research. It is central to design thinking and agile workflows, where user needs and feasibility considerations are balanced as ideas are evolved into concepts, experiments, and plans. Co-creation with stakeholders and users is common to improve relevance and buy-in.

Outputs from ideation include an idea backlog, concept sketches, user stories, or early prototypes. Effective ideation relies on psychological safety, openness to unusual ideas, and skilled facilitation to manage dominance, discourse, and bias. Common challenges include groupthink, premature evaluation, and feasibility constraints that require clear criteria and structured decision-making.

The term ideation combines idea with the suffix -ation, and in design thinking, ideation is a defined phase focused on exploring possibilities before selection and implementation.