ideate
EYE-dee-ayt
/ˈaɪdieɪt/
To form ideas or concepts; to generate a large number of creative solutions or thoughts, especially during a structured brainstorming session.
Unlike 'think', ideate implies an active, collaborative, and unconstrained process of creative generation.
The story behind the word. While 'ideate' was used as a philosophical term in the 17th century to describe the mental act of conceiving an image, it was resurrected in the late 20th century by design theorists. It became a central pillar of 'Design Thinking'—a structured approach to innovation popularized by the design firm IDEO and Stanford's d.school.
Word relationships
- brainstorm: Brainstorm is a common, informal term for group idea generation, while ideate is a more formal term used in design thinking methodologies.
- conceptualize: Conceptualize means to form a detailed, structured concept, whereas ideate focuses on the rapid, raw generation of many ideas.
- execute: Execute means to carry out or perform a plan, shifting from thinking to physical action.
- analyze: Analyze involves breaking down and evaluating existing ideas, whereas ideating is about creating new ones.
Commonly confused with
- idealize: Idealize means to represent something as perfect or better than it reality, while ideate means to generate ideas.
Word family
- ideation (noun): The formation of ideas or concepts.
- ideational (adjective): Relating to mental images or ideas.
Collocations
- ideate solutions
- collaborative ideation
- freedom to ideate
- ideate and prototype
Example sentences
- "Before we start building prototypes, we need to spend a day to ideate without worrying about budget constraints." A design thinking workshop.
- "The ability to ideate rapidly is a core competency for modern product designers." A textbook on product development.
Memory hook
Think of 'idea' + 'create'. To ideate is to create new ideas. Create ideas during a brainstorm.
When not to use
Do not use it for simple, everyday thinking (e.g., 'I am ideating about what to eat for lunch' sounds absurdly pretentious).
Fun facts
- In psychology, 'suicidal ideation' is a clinical term for having thoughts of suicide, showing how the word has very different professional contexts.
Explore more words
ideation, brainstorm, conceptualize, conceive, collaborate, devise
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