Welcome back to Knocode’s Vision-to-Value series! In this entry, we’re diving into ideating. Everything starts as just an idea, but trying to come up with ideas can sometimes feel overwhelming, or even impossible. With ideating, you’ll learn how to capture, generate and find ideas.
What is Ideating?
Ideating is the process of discovering, generating and exploring ideas to solve problems or create opportunities. It combines creativity with strategic thinking to uncover solutions and use techniques to turn abstract concepts into actionable plans. Whether brainstorming from scratch or refining an existing idea, ideating is where possibilities begin to take shape.
Imagine yourself staring at a blank page or screen, a million thoughts swirling in your mind, but nothing seems to stick. Or maybe you’ve had an idea bouncing around for weeks or longer, but it feels just out of reach, like a word on the top of your tongue. Ideating can help take that chaos, that spark, and give it direction, helping you go from, “I think this could work” to “this is how I’ll make it happen.”
Why Ideating Matters?
Ideating lays the foundation for everything that follows in the journey toward innovation. Without a clear, well-formed idea, it’s nearly impossible to build something meaningful or impactful. This stage ensures your ideas are aligned with real-world problems and opportunities, providing a strong starting point for further development. Skipping or rushing through ideating often leads to vague concepts, weak planning, and ultimately, failed execution.
By taking the time to ideate, you gain clarity on what you’re creating and why it matters. You explore possibilities, test assumptions, and identify the best path forward. In essence, ideating transforms abstract thoughts into a focused direction, giving your project purpose and momentum.
Identifying a Problem
Before you start ideating, you may want to ask yourself, “What problems am I trying to solve? What needs haven’t been met?”
Good ideas are creative, interesting, and show promise, but they often address only surface-level needs or limited audiences. Great ideas, on the other hand, are transformative because they meet real needs or solve significant problems for larger audiences. Most importantly, great ideas are intended to make life easier for as many people as possible.
For example, a good idea might be a productivity app designed to help one person manage their personal to-do list more efficiently, whereas a great idea might be a collaborative task management platform that helps entire teams streamline their workflows and communicate effectively.
So, as you ideate, always try to think about people, what they’re doing, what they want to do, and how you can help them do it faster, easier, and better. Solve people’s problems.
Ideating Techniques
Ideating is not a one-size-fits-all process. There are countless techniques designed to help you generate and refine ideas, each with its own strengths and focus. Some methods encourage broad exploration, while others help you zero in on specific details. You can even combine techniques to uncover fresh perspectives or unexpected connections.
However, not all ideating techniques will resonate equally with everyone. Your thinking style, preferences, and the nature of your project will influence which methods work best for you. That’s why experimenting with different approaches is essential. It helps you discover the tools that unlock your creativity and align with your goals.
With so many techniques, we thought we’d try to make life a little easier for you by suggesting some techniques, but if you want to explore more options, we’ll include a list.
The Mind Mapping Technique
For Innovators who prefer a more creative and flexible approach, we suggest using the Mind Mapping technique.
Mind Mapping is a visual tool that allows you to organize your thoughts and explore connections between ideas. Imagine starting with a central concept and branching out with related ideas, much like the limbs of a tree. This method is perfect for free-spirited thinkers who like to see their creativity unfold naturally.
To create a mind map, start by writing your main idea in the center of a page. From there, draw branches that represent related concepts, themes, or subtopics. Add details, images, or keywords to each branch, allowing the map to grow organically. This technique not only helps you visualize your thought process but also sparks new connections and ideas as you go.
The SCAMPER Technique
For Innovators who prefer a more analytical and structured approach, we suggest using the SCAMPER technique.
SCAMPER is a systematic method that prompts you to explore your idea by asking a series of targeted questions: Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate, and Reverse. It’s designed to encourage deep thinking and challenge assumptions, making it ideal for refining and improving existing concepts or generating new ones with clear intent.
To use SCAMPER, start by identifying your core idea or problem. Then, go through each of the SCAMPER prompts systematically. For example, ask yourself, “What elements can I substitute to make this idea better?” or “Can I combine this with another concept for greater impact?” By the end of the process, you’ll have a range of innovative solutions grounded in strategic thinking.
The Customer Research Technique
For Innovators who prefer a balance of creativity and structure, we suggest using the Customer Research technique.
Customer Research is a method that helps you generate ideas by focusing on the needs and challenges of a specific audience. By understanding their pain points and unmet needs, you can uncover opportunities for innovation that are both relevant and impactful.
To use this technique, start by defining your target audience or niche. Then, conduct interviews, surveys, or observations to gather insights about their struggles and desires. Analyze the data to identify common themes or recurring issues. These insights will serve as a foundation for ideating solutions that directly address real-world problems, ensuring your ideas are both creative and grounded in practicality.
But if you’d like to explore more ideating techniques, here is a list:
- Affinity Diagramming: Grouping similar ideas together to find patterns
- Analogical Thinking: Drawing comparisons between unrelated domains.
- Biomimicry: Finding solutions by mimicking nature.
- Brainstorming: Generating ideas in a group without judgment.
- Brainwriting: Participants write down ideas independently and then share them.
- Collaborating Collaging: Using images and materials to spark inspiration.
- Concept Mapping: Structuring related ideas around a central concept.
- Crowdsourcing: Gathering ideas from a larger audience online.
- Customer Research: Study your audience or niche to uncover their pain points and challenges, providing insights for solutions.
- Data-Driven Insights: Using analytics to uncover trends and opportunities.
- Digital Mind Mapping Tools: Using tools like Miro or Lucidchart.
- Dot Voting: Voting on the most promising ideas with dots or stickers.
- Fishbone Diagram (Ishikawa): Identifying causes of a problem visually.
- Forced Connections: Combining unrelated concepts to spark new ideas.
- Freewriting: Writing continuously to generate ideas.
- Gamestorming: Using playful methods like improvisation games.
- Idea Generators: Leveraging AI-based tools for prompts and suggestions.
- Idea Marketplace: Pitching and “selling” ideas to the group.
- Idea Sketching: Turning concepts into rough visual representations.
- Idea Spaghetti: Writing ideas on sticky notes and connecting them randomly.
- Journaling: Recording thoughts over time.
- Lotus Blossom Technique: Expanding on a central idea by generating eight related ideas, then branching further.
- Meditation/Relaxation: Encouraging creativity through mental clarity.
- Metaphorical Thinking: Using metaphors to explore abstract concepts.
- Mind Mapping: Creating visual diagrams of ideas and their connections.
- Mind Sculpting: Refining ideas through structured iteration.
- Nominal Group Technique (NGT): Structured idea generation and ranking.
- Pareto Analysis: Prioritizing ideas based on their potential impact.
- Problem Reveal: Reversing the problem to find unconventional solutions.
- Question Storming: Generating as many questions about the problem as possible.
- Reframing Matrix: Viewing the problem through different lenses (e.g., customer, competitor, technology).
- Role Playing: Acting out scenarios to understand user perspectives.
- Role Reversal: Imagining the problem from another party’s perspective (e.g., the customer, a competitor).
- Round Robin: Each participant contributes one idea in turn.
- SCAMPER: Modifying ideas using prompts: Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate, Reverse.
- Silent Brainstorming: Generating ideas silently to avoid influence from group dynamics.
- Six Thinking Hats: Exploring ideas through different perspectives (logical, emotional, creative, etc.).
- Sketching/Doodling: Visualizing ideas through drawings.
- Storyboarding: Developing a narrative around the idea.
- SWOT Analysis: Assessing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
- TRIZ: A systematic approach based on engineering principles to solve problems creatively.
- Why-Why Analysis: Asking “Why?” multiple times to get to the root of the problem.
- Word Association: Starting with a word and brainstorming related concepts.
After experimenting with enough ideating techniques, you should find yourself with several ideas worth exploring. If not, no worries. There is no rush when it comes to ideating. Feel free to explore other ideating techniques until you find the methods, problems, and ideas that most resonate with you.
Ideating: Completed
Congratulations! You’ve taken your first major step towards becoming a founder, getting started. Doing anything for the first time can be challenging, especially when there are millions of different ways to do it. But hopefully, we at Knocode made it a little bit easier for you.
Once you’re satisfied with the ideas you want to explore, you’re ready for the next step in your journey toward bringing one of those ideas to life, refinement. Refinement is how we identify which ideas are more tangle than others, helping us narrow down which ideas to invest time, energy, and resources on.