Introduction
It is not unusual to have trouble or to become stuck while trying to choose an idea for a project. Below are a few strategies to overcome these difficulties and generate ideas for new work. You are encouraged to draw from a wide range of subjects, materials and experiences to influence, instigate and inform what you do. Traditions and conventions no longer hold the same kind of sanctions on restricting the territories and boundaries of art and design. Furthermore, the boundaries between art and science are also being questioned. In the spirit of having a wide range of choices to make, the purpose of this document is to instigate new territories from which you can draw ideas and use in making new work. If ever you feel stuck generating ideas, try some of these steps. Use what works best for you.
General Brainstorming Guidelines
- Let go of your fear, fear of making mistakes, of looking silly, etc. Ideas are cheap and can emerge at any time. The challenge comes in thinking things through, fitting into constraints, solving the underlying problems and so on. Do not wait for inspiration to strike (that’s a myth, developing ideas is a process).
- When devising ideas, consider holding back your presumptions about what is or is not possible technically: at this stage broad, unbounded thinking is encouraged.
- Make a list – think broadly, list madly – it doesn’t have to make sense at first. Come up with dozens or even a hundred different ideas for projects.
- Consider everything in your daily life as potential sources – how your spend your day, your routines, your thoughts or dreams, the decisions you make and how you make them, the routes you take in walking home, what you carry in your pockets, objects in your bedroom/dorm, the weather, bus tickets, ATM receipts, any social/economic/political/institutional/religious/cultural forces you are subject to. Consider areas of scientific research such as neuroscience, biology, psychology, complexity theory, systems theory, etc. Nothing is out of bounds.
- Consider all the themes you can explore through physical computing specifically: human (and non-human) expression, communication, learning, etc; the embodiment of computation, materiality of information, flows of information from the physical to digital worlds and back.
- Consider organizing your lists by some system of categories. Begin with the simple categories such as “Ideas”, “Situations” (e.g. waiting for bus), “Living Systems” (plants, bacteria, cats, etc), but feel free to alter them as your lists grow and evolve. You will find that the categories may not be mutually exclusive, and you may be able to create relationships between and among them.
- Pick 2 or 3 entries from your collection and try to construct some sort of interactive interface/system that is related in some way (conceptually, technically, etc)
- Remember that ideas can be rendered at any scale. You may have a big idea that can’t be done within the context of a 15-week course or is too expensive to make etc. But even a big idea can be isolated down to an elegant small example. If you a great idea that seems intimidating or unmanageable ask yourself what is the core element of this idea that could tested first as a proof of concept?
- Look for the rules and metrics: how are you going to evaluate whether the idea fits the need? Often defining the rubric is harder than generating the idea itself.
- How would you explain your idea to someone completely outside your discipline, peer group, etc (e.g. your grandmother)? This should help you recognize the unspoken assumptions built into your system or idea and help you adjust.
Portions of this list have been inspired by from artist Paula Levine and engineer Garth Zeglin.