IDEA-GENERATION TECHNIQUES - A FORMULARY OF ACTIVE INGREDIENT

The profusion of creativity techniques that have been proposed and use d is based on a much smaller set of active ingredients, devices that p romote idea generation. This paper reports the results of a study that identified these active ingredients through an analysis of 172 idea-g eneration methods. Fifty idea-generation devices of three types - stra tegies, tactics, and enablers - were identified and organized in a for mulary. Research results facilitate the evaluation of idea-generation methods and the selection of methods suited to particular idea-generat ion tasks.