Photo: Andriy Babarytskyi

Accelerating new ideas

A structure for effective idea generation

Creativity is an area on which an endless number of articles have been written, but few have covered the structure and facilitation of faster and more effective idea generation. After many years of setting up processes and running concept generation sessions, a relatively simple cycle becomes clear.

The key is identifying and activating “adjacencies” — the things next to existing products and services. This is described very well by Steven Johnson in Where Good Ideas Come From: evolution and innovation usually happen in the “adjacent possible.” Most inventions are not the product of eureka moments, but the result of many ideas next to other ideas, which move progress forward.

The light bulb was invented more than 70 years before Thomas Edison by Humphry Davy, but Edison’s “invention factory” put more than 6,000 variations next to each other until one emerged as the most practical for a consumer release. This shows how a continuous improvement process requires a collection of existing ideas next to each other and the addition of new outside elements. Adding new input to an evolving collection of existing ideas leads to new things. The goal of an ‘invention factory’ is to bring those ideas together more quickly.

Sequencing Adjacent Ideas

We have been using a relatively simple and practical method for combining observations in order to quickly reveal adjacent ideas:

1. Document the environment we are in
2. Log a “spark” from an observation
3. Write down the new thought.

This sequence forces a combination of something we know with something we are observing.

We have integrated this sequence into our work with a process called “Field Synthesis,” in which we observe and connect ideas while we are still doing field research. This speeds up the process of creating service concepts after the research is complete.

1. The Context: Where did we go? Describe the physical environment. We have to see the place, watch the actions, and talk to the people in order to understand why we are interested in the thing observed. This is also the reason travel is cited as a way to boost creativity.
2. The Spark: What did we see, hear, smell, or taste that drove a new insight? It could be a conversation we had; looking at an environment from a new point of view; the answer to a question we asked someone.
3. The Thought: What new thing did it reveal? This is where the new idea is connected, where we feel the two things next to each other turning into a new connected idea — bringing the adjacencies together. Something we know combined with something we are observing.

Logging the “idea” we have in the field isn’t enough. If we log the context and the spark, the idea is always better, and documenting these two areas gives us the time to think through why the observation is relevant. The context and spark then become connected to the new idea. With those elements in place, we have embedded the history of observation into the idea so we can use it to spark other ideas.

This is where the importance of diversity — more people of different types, observing an environment –becomes very clear, and the spark comes from applying our experiences as people to the place. People will notice different things for different reasons, and we carry our diversity of experiences into our observation in research. The spark comes from connecting our experiences to a new place and things that draw our attention.

If we log and cycle this structure, our idea-generation process can be accelerated and repeated, and this cycle can be turned into a habit. If every day we observe our environment, look for a spark and log the resulting thought, the practice of new ideas becomes more natural and much faster.

Industry Examples

By taking apart a few ideas, we can reveal the sequence for how ideas came together. These ideas often come from environments where people with varying backgrounds came together or from observing something new, which adds to an existing process.

Context: Edison outside on a hot day in Florida after leaving the lab

Spark: He unwound fine bamboo on a fold-out fan he was using

Thought: Can we use bamboo as a filament for the light bulb?

Taking this experience of adjacent ideas and iterations made this connection natural. Edison was already in the mindset of looking for adjacent ideas. His team carbonized the bamboo and tested it as a filament, and he then sent assistants to Japan to find the type of bamboo that was used in that fan. Edison’s team kept iterating after the patent was granted and discovered that bamboo filaments could last more than 1200 hours, which opened the way for commercial light bulbs.

We had a similar process with the VR Wheelchair prototype at Fjord. We bought a wheelchair as part of an empathy study we were doing, and the spark came from speaking with wheelchair users about a disastrous first experience and the proximity of multiple proof-of-concept explorations from previous projects.

After countless adjacent combinations, we came up with something we thought would address the issue. The iterations are far from finished. Our ongoing collaboration is still moving this study forward — and we will have many more sparks and thoughts before we get there.

This example illustrates how combining the context and spark connects the adjacent ideas, leading to a new idea.

Embedding Contexts and Sparks in Objects

One technique we see quite a bit in articles on generating new ideas — finding a new place to go in order to broaden the input. This certainly worked in Edison’s case. He was constantly looking at new materials in the lab, but going to a new place and looking at a material he hadn’t considered caused the small spark that brought the pieces together.

If we present a new idea to a group, that new idea then becomes the spark for other thoughts in the room, resulting in a cycle of connections. In this setup, the co-creation or brainstorming session itself becomes the context resulting in the sparks which connect the thoughts.

One of the primary reasons a ‘build to think’ design process is so important is that it compresses these three areas into the objects we make and test. Making things and leaving them on display reminds us of the spark that led to the new thing.

Creating an Invention Environment

The cross-connection of work in progress is one of the primary benefits of a space with available materials and partially completed ideas — this is the invention factory. This not only guides new collaborators to the setup that led to a new idea, but also makes it possible to revisit locations and sparks that led to good ideas in the past. Finding ways to recreate the input that led to new service ideas helps us make progress more quickly.

The Makeshop process is a continuous cycle of contexts and sparks — adding new materials, making objects and adding input from research changes the physical environment. With the evolving works in progress, we are attempting to set adjacent ideas next to each other. Some of them are complete, some of them are incomplete and waiting for a connection.

My current favorite Makeshop spark waiting for a connection is a set of headphones with multiple microphones attached to the outside. The initial context and spark came from people with headphones on the subway bumping into each other, their awareness of space reduced without the use of sound. The thought was reversing that and increasing spatial awareness with heightened hearing — microphones on headphones tuned to improving the sound environment. The next iteration may have nothing to do with microphones of headphones, but there are several contexts and sparks embedded in that object already, and it is ready to connect to the next thing.

The environment Edison and DaVinci created for themselves was one of the primary reasons they were such prolific inventors. They were constantly asking questions, making things and surrounding themselves with works in progress. It doesn’t matter if these things have been invented before. Observing, making and extending uncovers new ground over time and can reveal the best version of a product or service. All of the products and services we use today are the result of continuous improvement over time and reinvention.

Covering old ground to cover new ground is a requirement for progress. Invention is a commitment to iteration — make it, try it, make another one. The objects around us have a history of ideas embedded in them, and going out to see more and make new connections fosters a fertile ground for invention.