Ideation is a process of naming ideas as they emerge from experiences, observations, knowledge, questions, and connections. At first, it is expansive brainstorming. However, the goal of ideation is to arrive at the intersection of just a few ideas that will lead to an engaging, original exploration. The protocols below are designed to help both brainstorm and narrow focus.
PROTOCOLS
BEANE PROTOCOL
What concerns do you have with ___________ in your life?
What concerns do you have with ___________ in your community?
What concerns do you have with ___________ in the state, country, world?
MIND MAPS
Write down a topic in the middle of the paper. As you generate connections, draw lines continually radiating out from the center or sub centers of the page. Connections can be from personal experiences, questions, topics, knowledge, etc that the word reminds you of.
GENERATE. SORT. CONNECT. ELABORATE.
Create lists of your interests, passions, curiosities, frustrations, and more. Then start to sort the items into categories. Look for intersections between the categories. Elaborate on the connections to see if there is a project direction that is possible there.
