Idea generation (wildest idea, morphological analysis, metaphor use)

Competency Group: Business

Type: Process

Description: Ideation is the creative process of generating, developing, and communicating new ideas, where an idea is understood as a basic element of thought that can be either visual, concrete, or abstract.

Citation for Description: Ideation (idea generation). (2011). Retrieved from Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideation_%28idea_generation%29

Units: Structured ideas

Advantages: This process is indicative of almost any realized product development in some form or another. It is an essential part of idea development.

Limitations: There is always a possibility of missing out on better solutions by not focusing on certain "wild" ideas.

Target Audience: Top management, Marketing, R&D

Relevant to Universal Design: Yes

Stages and Steps: 1.3

Free Resource: Konigi. (2012). Tools for ideation. Retrieved from http://konigi.com/.

Free Resource: Simpson, D. (2009). Ideation 101: Discovering new opportunities. Retrieved from Planning Innovations website: http://www.planninginnovations.com/resources/Articles/Ideation%20101.htm.