Welcome to our advent calendar! Throughout December, we're exploring the behind-the-scenes aspects of product creation. Today, we're tackling a crucial but often misunderstood step: ideationFar from being a chaotic jumble of colorful sticky notes, structured ideation is a true strategic tool. Discover how to harness divergence and convergence to transform your collective intelligence into a product advantage.

An underestimated concept because it is misunderstood

Ideation is sometimes perceived as a chaotic exercise, a hazy phase reserved for colorful sticky notes and occasional workshops, or even a time-consuming luxury. Yet, beneath this apparent simplicity lies a rigorous process. Improvised, it generates more frustration than value; structured, it becomes an extraordinarily powerful lever for innovation.

To restore meaning to the notion of idea

The word "idea" comes from Greek eidosThe intelligible form of a thing. For Plato, this is not a fantasy, but a structure and a coherence. In product design, this etymology reminds us that ideation transforms a vague need into something clear and testable. It is no longer about seeking a perfect form, but about giving direction to what does not yet have one, moving from abstraction to action. Thinking of the idea as a "form" allows us to create solutions that are both creative and relevant.

When internal tensions arise

Ideation workshops reveal natural tensions:

• The designer fears that the constraints will come too late and stifle exploration.

• The PO fears the endless discussions that threaten the roadmap.

• The developer is wary of ideas that are appealing but technically unrealistic.

Without a framework, these tensions divert ideation from its value: to align, to illuminate, to open up options.

Informal ideation: a seemingly harmless chaos

It is not the official workshops that pose a problem, but the micro-sequences of daily life: ideas thrown out "on the fly", impromptu discussions, inspirations shared on Slack.

Without a framework, these moments produce well-known effects:

• The voices are colliding: The most persuasive or most senior person unintentionally imposes their vision.

• Unspoken issues take root: Those who have not had the opportunity to express themselves are disengaging.

• The vision disperses: Ideas multiply but do not coalesce.

• Frustration is mounting: The feeling of “talking a lot but achieving little” is becoming a recurring irritant.

A minimum of formality — even very slight — is enough to transform these informal exchanges into useful decisions.

The strategic framework: choosing your innovation stance

Ideation almost always falls into one of two categories: improvement incremental and breakingTwo complementary but opposing dynamics in terms of posture, constraints and ambition.

Teams often unconsciously mix the two: some imagine the future, others try to correct the existing situation. This blurring of boundaries undermines the quality of ideas. Hence the importance of consciously choosing the ideation method before opening the discussion.

1. Incremental ideation: improving what already exists

Incremental development follows a pragmatic logic: optimize, correct, refine. It's the ideal playing field when the product is already launched, the market is stable, and risk must remain controlled.

This type of ideation often generates the best return on investment: little effort, big impact.

Effective ideation techniques:

• Reverse brainstorming

  • Principle: Instead of imagining how to improve the experience, the goal is to make it catastrophic. By deliberately revealing the worst-case scenarios, we expose flaws that are often invisible.

  • Advantage: Frees teams from the “already good” syndrome.

  • Limitation: May produce overly conservative solutions if one does not dare to move towards ambitious proposals.

• Subtraction (SIT)

  • Principle: A key element of the product is deliberately removed: a step, an object, a feature. This imposed constraint forces a reinvention of the experience.

  • Advantage: Immediately exposes unnecessary dependencies.

  • Limitation: Can destabilize teams if the product culture is not mature.

• scamper

  • Principle: We question the existing situation from seven angles: substitute, combine, adapt, modify, propose other uses, eliminate, reorganize.

  • Advantage: Ideal for revealing small cumulative improvements.

  • Limitation: Rarely suitable for long-term visions, as it is very rooted in the existing situation.

2. Disruptive ideation: the limitless vision

Disruption is the space where we allow ourselves to imagine without constraint. Here, the goal is to reinvent, not to optimize.

This method of ideation is essential to anticipate market developments, reinvent an experience, or define a new product strategy.

Effective ideation techniques:

• Future casting / press release

  • Principle: We project ourselves three years into the future and write a fictional press release announcing the product's success. This pushes the team to focus on the impact — not the features.

  • Advantage: Clarifies the destination, unifies the vision.

  • Limitation: Requires a solid reverse planning approach.

• Bono's Six Hats

  • Principle: The idea is explored from six angles: data, emotions, risks, creativity, optimism, and organization. This structure protects ideas from premature criticism.

  • Advantage: Balances viewpoints and facilitates potential conflicts.

  • Limitation: Requires experienced facilitation.

• Forced analogy

  • Principle: The product is compared to an unfamiliar world: a Michelin-starred restaurant, a symphony orchestra, a museum.

  • Advantage: Unlocks the imagination, especially among technical profiles.

  • Limitation: Less effective if the team struggles to “let go”.

Convergence: making clear-headed decisions

Convergence is the most strategic part of the process. It is also the part where mistakes are most costly: poor priorities, underestimated effort, seductive deviations, loss of product clarity.

An idea only has value if it is chosen and executed.

Three methods are particularly useful for convergence.

• Dot voting

  • Principle: The dot voting It is a quick and democratic way to identify ideas that attract collective attention. Everyone awards points to the proposals they consider most relevant.

  • Advantage: Excellent for filtering a large volume of ideas in a short amount of time.

  • Limitation: Popularity is not relevance — this vote must be followed by a qualitative discussion.

• MOSCOW

  • Principle: MoSCoW helps clarify expectations by classifying ideas according to four levels: Must, Should, Could, Won't.

  • Advantage: Immediately clarifies priorities and avoids ambiguities.

  • Limitation: Requires strong discipline: without it, everything ends up as a “Must”.

• Impact/Effort Matrix

  • Principle: The impact/effort matrix converts creativity into strategy. The impact on the user and the necessary technical effort are evaluated.

  • Advantage: Balance of vision and realism, ideal for the roadmap.

  • Limitation: Requires active participation from the tech to be reliable.

Understanding the cognitive mechanics of collective imagination

When we allow ourselves to imagine freely, the brain activates networks that are often inhibited: analogical thinking, association of ideas, projection, metaphor.

Collectively, these networks synchronize: one idea triggers another, creating a domino effect impossible to produce alone.

But this potential can only be expressed if the climate is safe: no premature judgment, no sarcasm, no crushing.

Ideation is as much a cognitive exercise as it is a social exercise.

Ensuring success: making ideation a culture

Ideation is not a box of the design thinking Check the box. It's a strategic muscle.

And like any muscle, it develops over time, not through occasional rituals.

To strengthen this "collective muscle," several practices have proven particularly effective:

• Use ice breakers intelligent ways to create a space for mental freedom.

• Integrate light ideation sequences into daily life, not just in workshops.

• Establish a common language around divergence and convergence.

• Value the ideas that become reality, not those that remain theoretical.

A team that regularly practices ideation becomes more lucid, more inventive, more collective.

Ideation as a strategic muscle

A well-conducted ideation session is not a moment of chaos but a driver of clarity. It allows for divergence to explore, convergence to decide, and anchoring collective intelligence at the heart of the product.

The most innovative companies are not those with the best ideas, but those that know how to create the conditions for their emergence and realization.

Ideation, when mastered, is not a workshop: It's a discipline, a culture, an advantage.

Davit Kocharyan
Experience Designer at UX-Republic