What is the purpose of brainstorming in design?

The purpose of brainstorming in design is to generate a large number of ideas. This creative practice encourages free thinking and the exploration of various possibilities without immediate criticism or evaluation, allowing designers to expand their horizons and think outside the box. The intention is to foster creativity and to stimulate innovative solutions to design problems, resulting in a wealth of ideas that can later be filtered and refined.

In contrast, evaluating existing solutions, finalizing design concepts, and organizing project schedules are not the main focus of brainstorming. Evaluating solutions tends to come after generating ideas, where choices are analyzed regarding their effectiveness; finalizing design concepts occurs much later in the process, involving a selection and refinement of ideas; and organizing project schedules is related to project management rather than the ideation phase inherent to brainstorming. Thus, generating a large volume of ideas is central to the brainstorming process in design.