THE CREATIVE VALUE OF BAD IDEAS A computational model of creative ideation Ricardo SOSA Singapore University of Technology and Design, Singapore ricardo_sosa@sutd.edu.sg and John S. GERO Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study and University of North Carolina, Charlotte, NC, United States john@johngero.com Abstract. This paper analyses two ideation principles: idea accessibility and idea connectivity. Access refers to the likelihood to generate a particu- lar idea or set of ideas for a given design task. Connectivity refers to the likelihood of one idea leading to other ideas. These principles are evaluated through a computational model. The results suggest new metrics to assess the value of new ideas. Evaluating new ideas by their accessibility and con- nectivity has the potential to transform current idea generation practice and research. Keywords. Design creativity; ideation; computational creativity. 1. Introduction Creative design ideation is the process of generating new ideas that are ultimately perceived to solve a problem or improve a situation. Novelty, utility and surprise are broadly considered as necessary conditions (Runco and Pritzker, 2011), but to generate inventive, valuable and surprising ideas is not easy. Many ideation meth- ods focus on maximising the number of ideas, called ideational fluency. Most techniques specifically separate generation from evaluation (Osborn, 1963). This is captured by Linus Pauling’s phrase: “The best way to get good ideas is to get lots of ideas”. This paper examines alternative approaches to such brute-force approach to creative ideation. It focuses on intrinsic characterisations of the R. Stouffs, P. Janssen, S. Roudavski, B. Tunçer (eds.), Open Systems: Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia (CAADRIA 2013), 853–862. © 2013, The Association for Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia (CAADRIA), Hong Kong, and Center for Advanced Studies in Architecture (CASA), Department of Architecture-NUS, Singapore. 853