Show me what you’ve got - the influence of combined sketching on idea generation in teams

Abstract

The present study investigates the influence of common sketches on the idea generation process in early concept generation. Thirty-six teams of three design students were given a small task in which they were asked to come up with visualized ideas. In the control groups, team members sketched on an individual sheet of paper while working in a team. As expected , the teams sketching individually produced more in total and more diverse ideas. No difference was found between the quality and innovativeness of the ideas. Also according to the hypotheses, individually sketching teams elaborated less on their ideas and explained their own ideas more. THe teams did not differ in their satisfaction with the final result. The result suggest that common sketching did serve as a common ground in the group that leads to shared views and ideas. This, however, goes along with less productivity of ideas.Product Innovation ManagementIndustrial Design Engineerin