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November, 2025
Redefining Creativity, One Word at a Time
Built on cognitive science and human design, Words transforms language into a tool for self-understanding and creative discovery.
What do you think of when you hear the word Apple?
What Is the Word Association Technique?
Word association is an ideation technique in which individuals write down a series of words and deliberately connect them to a given problem or topic. The goal is to generate a list of words—often unrelated or unexpected—and then force associations between those words and the problem at hand (Project Management Institute [PMI], 2015). This process produces a large quantity of ideas, including many far-fetched or unconventional notions, without immediately judging or filtering them. In essence, word association is a form of free brainstorming that prioritizes quantity over quality in the early stages of creativity (Nielsen Norman Group [NNG], 2016).
This approach aligns with classic brainstorming principles first formalized by Alex Osborn, who established the rules: “go for quantity,” “no idea is a bad idea,” and “wild, crazy ideas are welcome” (NNG, 2016). In other words, participants should feel free to explore without restraint and postpone all criticism or evaluation during the idea-generation phase (NNG, 2016). By suspending judgment, word association creates a safe, playful space to explore offbeat ideas. The underlying belief is that among a broad pool of raw ideas—even seemingly absurd ones—there may be the seed of a truly innovative solution. The more ideas generated, the higher the likelihood that one will spark a breakthrough (NNG, 2016).
How Word Association Enhances Creative Thinking
Word association exercises are powerful because they push our minds to make unexpected connections. Exposing oneself to random or loosely related words jolts the brain out of its usual thought patterns (Frey, 2003). Psychologists note that the human mind “loves to make connections” and will find links “no matter how different two concepts are” (Frey, 2003). By prompting associations between unrelated ideas, the technique encourages divergent thinking—a hallmark of creativity.
Recent research supports this view. A 2021 study introduced the Divergent Association Task (DAT), where participants named ten unrelated words. The study found that the greater the semantic distance between the words, the stronger the correlation with standard measures of creative potential (Olson et al., 2021). In other words, the ability to connect completely unconnected ideas is a strong predictor of creativity.
Another reason word association boosts creativity is that it helps bypass internal filters and fixed assumptions. The technique relies on free association—responding quickly and spontaneously to each word with the first idea that comes to mind (Reis, 2016). This rapid, unfiltered brainstorming prevents overthinking and self-censorship. By continuously recording ideas without pause, participants have no time to judge ideas as “too crazy” or “wrong.” This lack of evaluation is crucial, because premature criticism can suppress creative insight. As the Nielsen Norman Group (2016) observes, “All judgment is postponed, since evaluation stifles creativity.”
In practice, participants often find that once the usual constraints and fear of being “wrong” are removed, their imagination opens up. The process can feel playful or even silly—and that is by design. This playful mental state encourages risk-taking in thought, which often leads to original ideas that a more analytical mindset would never produce. Creativity thrives on the ability to think freely, and word association is structured to unlock that freedom.
Word Association in Design Thinking and Ideation Practices
In creative industries and design thinking processes, word association is one of many ideation techniques used to generate innovative ideas. Within the Design Thinking framework, for example, the Ideation stage focuses on producing a broad range of possible solutions without constraint. The Nielsen Norman Group (2016) defines ideation as “the process of generating a broad set of ideas on a given topic, with no attempt to judge or evaluate them.” In this phase, the emphasis is on quantity and originality rather than immediate feasibility (NNG, 2016; Teamly, 2023).
Techniques such as word association, mind mapping, and “How Might We” questions help teams break out of rigid thought patterns and explore unconventional directions (Teamly, 2023). By introducing randomness or surprise (such as a random word prompt), designers and brainstormers can overcome habitual thinking and discover perspectives they might otherwise overlook.
Word association can be applied individually or collaboratively, making it a versatile tool in the UX and creative toolkit. UX practitioners sometimes use random word generators during brainstorming sessions to spur fresh ideas for design problems. The goal is to push beyond the obvious. As Teamly (2023) explains, ideation sessions “spur creativity, energize tired teams, and get you out of a rut on repetitive challenges.” Word association contributes to this creative climate by providing a structured way to introduce novel stimuli into discussions, ensuring that even the most unconventional ideas surface before later refinement.
Industry Examples: How Creative Teams Use Word Association
Leading creative organizations and agencies frequently incorporate word association and related techniques into their innovation workflows. For example, Apple’s design teams have been known to use a two-step process: first, a free-form brainstorming session to generate wild ideas, followed by a second meeting to refine and evaluate them (Cederman, 2008). In these sessions, designers are encouraged to “forget about constraints and think freely”—essentially to “go crazy” with ideas (Cederman, 2008). This separation between idea generation and evaluation reflects the same core principle as word association: first liberate creativity, then apply logic.
Creative consultancies and marketing agencies use similar practices. The innovation firm Thinkergy, for instance, promotes spontaneous free association as a “fun way to boost creativity” and produce “fresh, unconventional ideas” (Reis, 2016). The process can be as simple as selecting a random word, writing the next word that comes to mind, and reviewing the resulting chain for inspiration. Advertising agencies often use such lateral thinking exercises when developing product names, campaign slogans, or creative concepts. The prevalence of these methods across creative industries underscores a key insight: introducing randomness or absurdity into brainstorming can jolt teams into new creative territories. As long as the atmosphere remains open-minded and playful, word association exercises help even experienced professionals break through creative blocks.
A Structured Twist: The Systematic Inventive Thinking (SIT) Perspective
Not all creativity methods rely on randomness; some are deliberately structured. Systematic Inventive Thinking (SIT) is one such method that advocates “thinking inside the box.” Unlike word association, SIT begins with clear constraints, using only the existing elements of the problem—known as the Closed World Principle (Boyd, 2013). According to SIT’s creators, “Closing the boundaries of a creative challenge makes individuals more consistently creative—and more productive—than playing word-association games in front of flip charts” (Lassiter, 2014).
SIT channels creativity through five structured techniques—Subtraction, Division, Multiplication, Task Unification, and Attribute Dependency—each designed to systematically manipulate components of a product or scenario (Boyd, 2013; Lassiter, 2014). While its philosophy contrasts with word association, SIT shares a common goal: overcoming psychological fixedness and habitual thinking. Where word association broadens the ideation space through free connection, SIT refines creativity by recombining known elements in rule-based ways. In practice, creative teams often blend both approaches: first using unstructured brainstorming to explore, then applying structured methods to evaluate and implement. Together, these approaches illustrate that creativity can emerge both from freedom and from constraint.
Why Word Association Elevates Creativity and Yields Meaningful Ideas
The word association technique expands the landscape of possible ideas beyond the obvious. By deliberately introducing unrelated or random elements into brainstorming, it encourages connections that would not arise in a linear process. This divergence produces many unconventional ideas, but such “wild” ideas are precisely where breakthroughs begin. As the Nielsen Norman Group (2016) notes, “No idea is too far-fetched” during the early stages of ideation—a crazy concept can always be refined into reality, whereas a mundane one rarely evolves into something extraordinary.
Equally important, word association fosters a mindset of openness and play—both essential to innovation. Free association invites participants to embrace ambiguity and explore meaning without certainty. In doing so, it reveals unexpected connections between ideas, leading to the intuitive “Aha!” moments that mark creative insight. Used effectively, word association turns thought into exploration: it helps individuals and teams move beyond fixed perspectives, find emotional resonance in their ideas, and transform scattered thoughts into coherent, inspired creations. It is not only a tool for brainstorming but also a method for thinking more freely, deeply, and meaningfully.
References
Boyd, D. (2013). Inside the box: A proven system of creativity for breakthrough results. Simon & Schuster.
Cederman, H. (2008). Apple’s take on brainstorming. Retrieved from https://cederman.com
Frey, C. (2003). Random word brainstorming. Innovation Management. Retrieved from https://innovationmanagement.se
Lassiter, B. (2014). Thinking inside the box. Performance Excellence Network. Retrieved from https://www.performanceexcellencenetwork.org
Nielsen Norman Group. (2016). Ideation for everyday design challenges. Retrieved from https://www.nngroup.com
Olson, J. A., Nahas, J., Chmoulevitch, D., Cropper, S. J., & Webb, M. E. (2021). Measuring creativity with semantic distance: The divergent association task. Behavior Research Methods, 53(4), 1640–1658. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-020-01514-6
Project Management Institute. (2015). Creative project team thinking. PMI Global Congress Proceedings. Retrieved from https://www.pmi.org
Reis, D. (2016). How to create ideas with word play (X-IDEA method). Thinkergy. Retrieved from https://thinkergy.com
Teamly. (2023). 11 ideation techniques beyond brainstorming. Retrieved from https://www.teamly.com
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