The ability to be creative is becoming increasingly important. Collecting ideas in groups could be especially beneficial if members inspire each other, but evidence shows that during brainstorming, groups collect fewer ideas than members individually. Synchronous feedback on statements might improve creativity in groups. Accordingly, a feedback-interface (Group Mirror) to improve group creativity was developed. Since attention is particularly occupied during brainstorming, an ambient light form of representation was chosen, which aims to take up as little attention as possible. Behavior was either reinforced (green light) or inhibited (red light) based on AIFI (“Analyzing Idea Finding Interactions”) live coding system.
To investigate the effects of the ambient light feedback, a between-subjects design was conducted comparing the four levels of "ambient light," "ambient light - false feedback," "diagram-based," and "no feedback." In the case of false feedback, facilitative statements were inhibited, and inhibitory statements were reinforced in order to test whether the specific feedback was actually effective. A diagram-based presentation should require more attention and was therefore included as a comparison group. A total of 96 subjects participated in 32 groups of three members each. Creativity was measured using the number of ideas per group. In addition, exploratory data were collected using a questionnaire and a short group interview.
Correct ambient light feedback improved the group's creativity compared to no feedback and diagram-based representation. Additionally, conversational behavior differed by condition, particularly in the second half of the conversation.
Ambient light feedback thus provides a good method to improve creativity in groups.