Brainstorm, define, prototype: timing constraints to balance appropriate and novel design

We present the results of a human creativity experiment that examined the effect of varying the timing of narrowed constraints. Participants were asked to create a static web ad for Stanford University guided under a timed design process and were introduced to a narrowed constraint either at the beginning, middle, or end of the prototyping process. The narrow constraint addressed goal and task constraints by specifying the target audience and ad size. We find that groups introduced to narrow constraints prior to the brainstorm yielded more appropriate results, while those introduced prior to the final production yielded more novel results. Our results suggest that effective timing of design constraints may further optimize ideation and design methodologies.