Creativity is structured chaos. It is the balance between a solid method and inspiration.
INNOWIZ (innovation wizard, °2007) guides people through any innovation process and encourages them to make use of creativity techniques.
INNOWIZ was developed by researchers working at the Industrial Design Center of Howest University College in Kortrijk, Belgium.
Although the
INNOWIZ web tool originated within a framework of (industrial) product development, the original ambition was that it would be applicable to any other innovation process. So,
INNOWIZ cannot only help you solve your technical problems, but can also be deployed for organizational, strategic, personal... purposes.
METHOD
The
INNOWIZ 4-step-method makes any creative process transparent and tangible.
The general creative process consists of four different stages:
Problem/Challenge Definition, Idea Generation, Idea Selection and Idea Communication/Materialization.
This method structures a creative process and ensures that people tackle their project in a highly efficient manner. By consistently and iteratively running through these four steps, you are guaranteed a better implementation and realization of good ideas.
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PROBLEM DEFINITION
Define the playground of your problem, draw the box you want think out of.
Become a specialist in this topic you are working on.
Redefine things in a challenging way.
Take a deep breath before you start...
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IDEA GENERATION
Maximize your ideas.
Aim for quantity.
Improvise, move fast, change your point of view, zoom in and out and in again.
Check your hair....
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IDEA SELECTION
Combine, enrich
and develop ideas.
Select the fittest ideas
and rand them.
Accept and let go...
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IDEA COMMUNICATION
Build a story, make it real,
spread your vision.
Excite your colleagues,
look for partnerships.
Relax for a while...
Now move on to the next level...
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INSPIRATION
Creativity plays a key role in any innovation process. And this is where creativity techniques come in as they can blow some oxygen into this process. Creativity techniques stimulate creative thinking in individuals and in groups. You can easily find tools and techniques in literature and on the Internet by yourself but it will cost time to screen everything. What's more, selecting the right tool and the appropriate technique for each specific situation or challenge is a different kettle of fish altogether.
And this is how the idea to develop an
INNOWIZ database of creativity techniques was born. The database gives you an overview of reliable and screened creativity techniques that are practiced today in all kinds of situations. It is freely accessible via the web (open source), it is interactive and evolves continuously - as we try to stay up to date. In the database, you will find both analog and advanced interactive Web 2.0 tools.
Creativity is above all a mental process that involves the generation of new ideas or concepts, or new ways in which the creative mind associates existing ideas or concepts. As human beings we develop our own personal processes in terms of different thinking patterns. The goal of
INNOWIZ is to stimulate these learning activities and to help creative people explore new mindsets: analytical, imaginative, emotional, detailed, positive, etc... In other words, it takes them off the beaten path and helps them think and see things outside the box. Ned Herrmann and Howard Gardner were instrumental in determining the different mindsets and they inspired
INNOWIZ in categorizing the creativity techniques.
Nedd Herrmann brain model
Howard Gardner multiple intelligences
The
INNOWIZ database suggests creativity techniques that might be applicable to your situation.
Each creativity technique is tagged according to certain parameters: time, team, think, type and phase. Simply use the search button to make your selection.
| Time: | Short | Long |
| Team: | Individual | Team |
| Think: | Facts | Frame | Fantasy | Feeling |
| Type: | Offline | Online |
| Phase: | Problem Definition | Idea Generation | Idea Selection | Idea Communication |
