Creativity Loading – Please Wait! Investigating the Relationship between Interruption, Mind Wandering and Creativity

With the advancement of information technologies, routine tasks are increasingly supported by information systems, which is why ideation and creativity is becoming more and more important. We know from many anecdotes that creative ideas emerge when our mind is wandering instead of being focused on the task at hand. Yet, most information systems that are used for work-related purposes offer only little opportunities for task-unrelated thoughts. In contrast, current literature shows that most information technology is designed to keep our attention. In order to better understand the value of mind wandering, we propose an experimental design that incorporates interruptions that vary in their length with the objective to stimulate episodes of mind wandering and thus positively impact creativity. We provide initial insights on how the experiment should designed and discuss implications for future research

Investigating the Impact on Creativity in a Supportive Technology-Driven Environment: An Experimental Approach

Fast-moving products and the urge for newness require constant innovation. Creativity has become an important asset for modern workers to meet this demand. However, today’s work environments are highly technology-driven, which often hampers creative thinking. Particularly, external interruptions and internal absent-mindedness (i.e., mind wandering) can impair performance. Although research offers different links between the single constructs (i.e., creativity, mind wandering, interruptions), an integrative view is missing so far. Based on cognitive demand theory, we propose an experimental design to examine the mediating effect of mind wandering between technology-induced interruptions and their influence on creative output. With our work, we aim to open the door for a vivid discussion on regaining focus in the digital age

Bittersweet Virtual Reality Collaboration: Necessary and Sufficient Conditions

The spread of COVID-19 has led to new challenges on organizations of every size. This also affects collaboration, which since then has had to be more digital than ever. While traditional collaboration tools, such as video- and audioconferences have reached their limits in terms of interactive and flexible collaboration, the development of multi-user virtual reality (VR) technology is introducing new possibilities. We investigate which conditions have an impact on the intention to collaborate in VR environments. To this end, we conducted a multi-user VR experiment and then interviewed participants individually and in focus groups on their collaboration behaviors. We were able to identify technological-, task-, and user-related conditions, which could be distinguished in necessary and sufficient conditions. Our research has helped to create evaluation opportunities to determine what conditions should be met to foster collaboration in VR