Design and Group Creativity

Abstract

Design communities in engineering and other disciplines have a practical reason for caring about group creativity. People employed in these areas have to generate creative solutions routinely, and they often must do so in a group. As a result, research in these areas has focused on processes to improve group creativity. This chapter explores techniques for generating problem statements and solutions in groups that have emerged from this literature. It also examines computer-based methods of problem solving that groups can use to enhance the ideas that arise from these group processes. This work has expanded the range of elements explored in studies of group creativity. Although theoretical studies of creativity can be useful in uncovering underlying mental processes, design development requires useful end products. The focus of this research on techniques that enhance creativity in design provides an opportunity to link this literature with the broader literature on individual and group creativity.