creativity-engine

name	creativity-engine
description	Generate, validate, and output new ideas based on existing knowledge. Combines combinatorial creativity, cross-domain analogy, and minimum experiments. Use when the user wants fresh ideas, new product concepts, or creative solutions.
version	1.2
updated	2026-05-22
assumes	The user wants divergent options and is willing to validate one minimum experiment.
conflicts_with	Do not present untested ideas as validated; route evidence claims through verify-before-claim or deep-research.

Creativity Engine

Generate novel ideas by combining existing knowledge across domains, then validate them through minimum experiments.

Usage Template

Prompt

Use creativity-engine on this challenge. Generate cross-domain combinations, rank them, and design the smallest test for the best idea.

Use Case

• Producing new product ideas, content angles, experiments, or strategic options from existing knowledge.

Expected Result

• The agent returns a ranked idea set plus one minimum experiment.

Output Example

• 10 idea candidates, 3 finalists, 1 selected experiment, and a 7-day validation plan.

Verification Case

• Each finalist idea states the source ingredients, target user, expected value, and a testable next step.
• Post-ingest ideas are saved as experiment notes when they have a plausible minimum test.

Verified Effect

• Brainstorming turns into ranked options with a smallest viable experiment for the best idea.

Success Metrics

• Produces ranked options with source ingredients, target user, expected value, and risk for each finalist.
• Selects one minimum experiment with a success signal, cost, and review date.
• Saves the experiment when operating inside a configured wiki or creativity workspace.

When to Use

• User wants "new ideas about X"
• User is stuck on a problem and needs fresh angles
• User wants to explore possibilities before committing
• After a wiki ingest session — capitalize on new knowledge

Workflow

C1: Combinatorial Ideation — The Lego Building Blocks Method

"If you own one building block, you can build some cool stuff. If you get a second building block, you can build something more interesting. Get more building blocks, and very rapidly the number of things you can combine them into grows combinatorially or exponentially." — Andrew Ng

The AI Building Blocks you should know:

Block	What It Does	Combine With
Prompting	Basic LLM interaction	Any other block
RAG	Retrieve and inject context	Knowledge bases, docs
Evals	Measure quality	Any output task
Guardrails	Safety constraints	Production systems
Fine-tuning	Custom behavior	Domain-specific tasks
Voice	Speech I/O	Accessibility, hands-free
Agentic workflows	Multi-step autonomous	Complex tasks
Tool use	External API calls	Real-world actions
Embeddings	Semantic similarity	Search, clustering
Vector DB	Store/retrieve embeddings	Knowledge management

Combinatorial ideation process:

Scan the wiki for relevant concepts/entities, then combine them systematically:

[Domain A concept] + [Domain B concept] = Novel idea

Example: AI + Property Maintenance → AI vision diagnosis for apartment repairs

Generate 10-20 ideas across these categories:

• Products — something people pay for
• Services — something people hire done
• Content — something people learn from
• Automation tools — something that saves time
• Business models — a new way to capture value

The more building blocks you know, the more combinations are possible.

C2: Cross-Domain Analogy

For each promising idea, ask:

• What other domain solves a similar problem?
• What pattern can I borrow?
• What would this look like in [biology/physics/sports/gaming]?

C3: Minimum Experiment Design

For the top 3 ideas, design the cheapest test:

Idea	Hypothesis	Minimum Test	Success Signal	Cost
1	If X then Y	Interview 5 users	≥3 say "I'd pay for this"	Free
2	...	Landing page + ads	≥5% signup rate	$50
3	...	Manual prototype	Works for 1 case	Time

For Obsidian workflows, save the selected experiment to CREATIVITY_DIR/experiments/ with:

• source ingredients
• combination formula
• target user
• hypothesis
• minimum test
• success signal
• next output

C4: Output Asset

After validation, if the idea survives:

• Write a structured output page
• Link to all sources and concepts
• Set status (seed → growing)

Ideation Prompts

1. What existing problem has a solution in another industry?
2. If labor were free, what would I build? (Then use AI to replace the labor)
3. What would the perfect version look like? (Work backward)
4. What do people do manually that they hate? (Automation opportunity)
5. What combination of wiki concepts has never been tried?

Classification Matrix

Evaluate each idea:

Criterion	1 (Low)	3 (Medium)	5 (High)
Value	Nice-to-have	Saves time/money	Creates new capability
Difficulty	Requires deep expertise	Feasible with existing tools	Weekend prototype
Originality	Common	Unusual in this domain	Never seen before

Quality Gates

• ≥10 ideas generated across ≥3 categories
• Top 3 have minimum experiment designs
• Each idea cites its source concept(s)
• Selected experiment is saved to CREATIVITY_DIR/experiments/ when working in an Obsidian vault
• Validated ideas written to durable output