Abstract: This paper addresses the identification of creative criteria to support the ... The literature on creativity assessment related to ideas is very limited,.
Developing Innovative Systems: Creative Ideation Claire Dormann and Gitte Lindgaard
Abstract: This paper addresses the identification of creative criteria to support the development of innovative systems. In idea generation, criteria that characterise creative ideas are: fluency, variety, innovativeness and usefulness. Creative criteria have been defined at a very generic level, and we have found very little indication of how in particular, the concept of innovativeness is operationalised. Trying to refine creative criteria in a specific domain however is very pertinent. Practically, it facilitates idea generation by allowing the selection, combination and elaboration of ideas that possess relevant characteristics. We explore thus creativity as innovativeness through a case study, the cybercartography project. The results of idea-generation sessions for this project provided insights into the definition of creative ideas. To refine the concept of innovativeness, we turn to the theory of aesthetic experiences based on the work of Dewey. Properties of aesthetic experiences are discussed in relation with the cybercartography project. The examination of aesthetic experiences led to the definition of innovativeness attributes as affect and dynamic inquiry.
N
ew technologies trigger continuous development in areas such as entertainment, art and education. In museum and galleries visitors can interact with kiosks, websites or CD-ROMs. Website
content ranges from information on specific museum exhibits to more interactive features such as art quizzes. Some offer more vivid learning experiences such as the museum of American history, where users can
learn how transportation transformed America, and shaped landscapes, lives, and communities. CD-ROMs or DVDs enable users to browse through large exhibits of multimedia clips or collections of objects. In virtual environments, visitors to a science museum can assume the perspective of different species and walk, fly or swim through their typical habitats. Computer agents for small devices are developed as guides to create a richer and more personal experience. Interactive objects in exhibits tell their story thereby enhancing visitors’ experiences. Data can be collected from museum tours to be shared and explored further at home or at school. Changes in technology lead to a rapid expansion of museum systems, the search for new concepts and new ways of interacting. Developing “proofs of concept” from ideas to storyboards, varying in degree of completeness, to extend the scope for interaction, engagement and creativity, is an important requirement for this domain. In this paper we explore the generation of creative ideas, and we address the very early development stage of interactive and innovative systems for science museums and education. In order to help design teams in the process of generating, elaborating, and evolving ideas into concepts, we need to identify criteria that support creative innovation. Practically, during the design process, design teams need to define creative criteria and provide guidance to help designers to move from the raw results of idea-generation toward emerging design solutions. Practitioners need to be able to identify the tools and practices that enhance creativity and minimise production losses (i.e. diminish the productivity of idea generation sessions). To do so requires a clear understanding of the value of ideas generated with a specific method or tool. The aim of this paper is to identify creative criteria and identify attributes that support innovativeness in idea-generation. To do so we first review creative criteria in idea generation then we focus on the
creative criterion of innovativeness. This criterion is discussed in a specific context through the cybercartography project and through the application Dewey’s theory on aesthetic experiences. We first review key criteria related to creativity and quality of ideas in idea-generation. In particular, the generic nature of criteria for creativity as innovativeness is highlighted. To find out more about what characteristics a novel or original ideas might have, we explore creativity in the context of the cybercartography project. We describe briefly the cybercartography project. Thereafter results of idea-generation sessions are examined in connection with creativity. To characterise further the concept of innovativeness, we turn to the work of Dewey. We show how the application of Dewey’s work in science teaching helps us to analyse and select ideas in our project and define creative attributes for innovativeness. Finally, we present issues for future research.
1. Criteria for evaluating creative ideas The literature on creativity assessment related to ideas is very limited, tending to focus on prototypes (Shah and co, 2002). However, measures of creativity and idea effectiveness are key concepts in studies associated with brainstorming and creativity support systems. These measures have been extracted from a sample of the most recent papers about idea generation and are shown in table 1 below. Numerous attempts have been made to modify and improve idea generation to minimise production losses (Bakki and Pinsonneault 2001; Sosik and co. 1998; Kramer and co. 1997; and Tacher 2001). Different ways of stimulating creativity have also been explored such as introducing visual stimuli in brainstorming sessions (Hender and co. 2001; Shah and co. (2003); and Malaga 1999). Most of these studies are controlled laboratory experiments in which the effectiveness of a tool, process or method is judged on the basis of ideas produced during idea generation. Dependant variables (i.e. quantity and quality) on
which different experimental conditions are compared, are used in this paper as criteria for defining creativity in idea generation. In table 1, all the criteria used as a measure of creative performances are listed. A definition for each criterion, when available, is also given. Table 1: Creative performances Study Sosik, Avolio & Kahai (1998)
Criteria Fluency, Originality, Flexibility
Malaga (1999)
Quantity Creativity Quality Quantity Originality, Feasibility, Effectiveness
Bakki Pinsonneault (2001)
&
Tacher (2001)
Hender, Rodgers, Dean, & Nunamaker (2001) Shah, Vargas Hernandez (2003)
Quantity Creativity, Usefulness Quantity Creativity (originality Paradigm relatedness) Quantity Novelty, Variety, Quality
definitions Fluency is measured as the total number of solution units generated (Quantity) Originality is measured as the statistical infrequency of solutions units. Flexibility is measured as the number of different approaches used in generating solutions units. no definition, overall criteria Originality is the extent to which an idea is novel, out of the ordinary Feasibility is the extent to which an idea is precise and the ease with which it can be implemented. Effectiveness is the extent to which the idea helps to solve the problem. no definition, overall criteria Originality: an idea is most original if no one has expressed it before Paradigm relatedness: the degree to which an idea preserves or modifies a paradigm Novelty is how unusual or unexpected an idea is compared to other ideas. Variety is a measure of the explored solution space Quality describes the feasibility of an idea and how close it comes to meet the design specifications.
It has to be noted that in Sosik and co. (1998), a solution unit corresponds to an idea. In Malaga (1999)’s experiment, three independent judges were asked to rate the creativity and quality off
each idea. Unfortunately, the author does not provide a definition of either of these. Similarly, Tacher (2001) does not define his criteria. In Hender and co. (2001), creativity was operationalised as two criteria: originality and paradigm relatedness (see table 1 for definition). The definitions highlight some similarities between these criteria. Creative criteria fall into four categories: (1) fluency (or quantity), (2) a measure of variety in the idea-generation session, (3) innovativeness, and (4) usefulness of the generated ideas. Fluency (or quantity) refers to the number of idea generated. Variety indicates the scope of the idea space; it is used to determine differences between ideas. Innovativeness refers to novelty or originality of ideas. Usefulness refers to the implementation of these ideas. These criteria are discussed in more depth, in the reminder of this section, showing their values and limitations. 1.1 Fluency of ideas Fluency (or quantity) is used mostly in the brainstorming literature to compare the effectiveness of for example, software tools or creative methods. Fluency seems a simple concept. However, it is not always clear what is counted or added together. There seems to be an agreement on the need to distinguish between raw data and unique ideas (Cooper and co, 1998). When counting the total number of unique ideas, duplicated ideas are eliminated. Initially, the rationale for this measure was the assumption that more ideas increase the chance of better ideas. This view has been criticised by Briggs and her colleagues (1997), who found that the higher the quality of an idea the less relevant quantity is. That is, the relationship between the number and the quality of ideas is non monotone. Moreover, when using this only this criterion as a measure of creativity, for equivalent results with two creativity methods, we have no ways of knowing which kinds of ideas were generated. Thus fluency gives an
indication of the productivity of an idea generation session but it should be combined with other creative criteria. 1.2 Creativity as variety This measure includes flexibility (Sosik, and co. 1998), variety (Shah and co. 2003) or paradigm relatedness (Hender and co. 2001) as defined in table 1. It describes the scope of the idea space and centres on differentiation between ideas. Nagasundaram and Bostrom (1995) discuss creativity in terms of paradigm relatedness: paradigm preserving ideas (PP) and paradigm modifying ideas (PM). Paradigm modifying ideas are ideas that introduce new elements in the problem context. They distinguish between ideas that modify (alter the relationship between elements of the problem), extend (introduce new elements in the problem) and ideas which do both. PP ideas refine an existing element in the problem. Apple’s graphical user interface when first introduced was a transformational idea (PM). Ideas for animating icons to make them more self-evident are PP ideas. Analysis of creative variety can increase our understanding of the problem and it is specifically interesting for comparing creativityenhancing techniques, as they can impose a structure on the ideageneration process (McFadzean 2001; Bostrom and Nagasundaram 1998). Practically, when developing interactive systems, this criterion does not provide any indication for selecting ideas that will be elaborated into concepts or solutions. 1.3 Creativity as innovativeness Innovativeness refers to novelty, uniqueness or originality of ideas, or to the rarity of ideas. Innovativeness can be considered within the ideageneration session, within a specific context or domain, or in general. The notions of originality and novelty are difficult to distinguish. Further distinction between them needs to be determined. However, that is beyond the scope of this paper.
As discussed earlier, creative criteria are not always defined. Moreover, creativity as originality or novelty has been defined at a very generic level, and we have found very little indication of how this concept is operationalised. It is unclear which attributes a new creative idea must possess. Innovativeness is a very important criterion to move from the raw results of an idea generation session toward emerging solutions. Design teams need indications off how to select an original idea. Some kinds of original ideas might be more desirable in a specific context. Shah and co. (2002) describe novelty attributes based on vehicle properties (e.g. mechanisms for propelling transportation vehicles). However such definitions are not adapted for ideas outside of the engineering field. Trying to refine creativity in a specific domain however is pertinent. Practically, it facilitates idea generation by allowing the selection, combination
and
elaboration
of
ideas
that
possess
relevant
characteristics. Moreover, we might want to find and use creativeenhancing methods that stimulate specific attributes of innovativeness. To find out more about what characteristics a novel or original ideas might have in multimedia environments, we explore creativity in the context of the cybercartography project. Cybercartography is a project that has both an educational and a scientific purpose. Cybercartography concepts are developed in a multimedia environment, and it is thought that creativity criteria defined in this context will also be relevant to other interactive systems. Innovation is an important criterion in our project and of many museum and educative applications. 1.4 Usefulness of creative ideas Usefulness is defined as ideas that solve a problem and that can be implemented. In this category, we have grouped criteria related to feasibility (Shah and co. 2003; Bakki and Pinsonneault 2001) and
effectiveness (Bakki and Pinsonneault 2001). It can be argued that usefulness is not directly a creative criteria but an important aspect of creative performances. In practice, developers must be able eventually to implement a creative idea or solution. It is thought that applying the usefulness criteria to evaluate ideas may be premature at the very early stage of idea generation as ideas are still primarily nascent. Using usefulness might inhibit creativity. Feasibility is more technologically dependant and might not be relevant at this stage. Thus usefulness is thought to be a more appropriate consideration for assessing ideas which have been developed into solutions.
2. Innovativeness in the context of cybercartography In the reminder of the paper we refine the creative criterion of innovativeness. We discuss innovativeness within the cybercartography project. 2.1 Cybercartography and Student on Ice Cybercartography is a large project that aims to explore new uses of cartography in the digital age (Taylor, 2002). The project tests the application and theory of cybercartography by providing a wide range of topics of interest to society and test new ways of engaging users. Cybercartography involves the transformation of static visual maps to include dynamic data and multi-sensory information (e.g. audio, tactile or smell). Cybercartography transforms all kinds of cultural, socioeconomic and environmental information into interactive representation, allowing the users to explore spatial patterns and relationship into new ways” (Taylor, 2003).
One goal of this project is to create two new cybercartographic products, a cybercartographic Atlas of Antarctica and Canada’s Trade with the world. Antarctica has an increasing scientific and environmental value. The trade atlas of Antarctica has also an important educational role. This project covers the development of tools to support the Students on Ice (SOI) and finding ways of making their educational experience more engaging. SOI enables us to look at creativity in a specific context. SOI are high school students who do a field trip in Antarctica. To participate in the SOI programme, students have to meet a number of requirements including giving presentations about their expedition and learning experiences to various community groups. To address issues with students’ presentations, such as to make them interesting and fun, it was decided to focus on the form that the student’s presentations could take before finding how to support students. Students’ presentations could take place in the real or virtual world. They open up to creative and innovative solutions which are particularly relevant to this project, to raise the awareness of cybercartography issues and to stimulate interests in the SOI programme. It is envisaged to develop some of these ideas as proof of concepts. In order to explore directions for development and get a better understanding of how this activity could be performed, short idea generation sessions were set–up within our laboratory. Participants, all of whom had a basic knowledge of the cybercartography project and had some experience in brainstorming, were divided into two groups. Their task consisted in brainstorming ways for students to convey their experiences and knowledge. The instructions given to participants were kept to a minimum however we specified that presentations of experiences and knowledge had to be engaging and motivating for audiences. We did not give them any technological constraints. In a following session, participants were also asked to classify resulting
ideas, to separate ideas as good or bad, and to explain what qualified a good idea. Participants’ definitions and descriptions of good ideas gave us valuable indications for characterising creativity. 2.2 Assessing ideas The characteristics of good ideas within the idea generation sessions are presented. Good ideas were defined conceptually and in the problem context. The classification and definition of good ideas give us indications for characterising creativity in this context. 2.2.1 Characteristics of good ideas Good ideas were defined at a meta-level. For one group, good ideas were “happening ideas, ideas that should grab us, that are audience oriented and ideas that are effective and practical”. Good ideas were defined by the other group at three levels: form, effectiveness, and creativity. Good ideas are ideas which were well defined or wellformulated; someone evaluating a specific idea should understand it. Good ideas are effective. A good idea was defined as how does it meet goals, how many goals does it meet, and does it use resource well. Good ideas are also creative, they are interesting and exciting. They have potential: are they given obvious solutions or do they complement other successful ideas (Participants).
Within the project context, good ideas were classified in one case as belonging to three groups: party and events ideas, media ideas, and interactive ideas. Particpants remarks that party and events, such as a birthday party or Winterlude, fit with people needs for entertainment. Moreover these events are sparkly fun. These ideas actively involve the audience and allow social interaction. Winterlude is a Canadian winter festival which includes skating, ice sculptures and music. Media ideas
consisted of play, poster and television show. They were characterised by participants as passive media events but events that get the word out. These ideas fill an important the role for raising the standing of the SOI programme in the general public. Play in this instance refers to a theatre play, or a skit. The last group, interactive ideas involve users and allow control over information and content (e.g. a travelogue which includes audio-visuals such as videos, sounds, and stories from people). The other participants simply distributed ideas into two groups (good and bad). The group separated ideas which were interesting and fun but also acceptable in the context of the project. The good ideas were related to games and plays (e.g. a skit based on some interesting experiences) and the use of metaphor (e.g. a house where in each room is a different concept). The sample from this group has indeed a large number of ideas related to games (see table 3). Table 3: Game Ideas Create an online crossword puzzle with questions that relates to students’ experience. Crossword—the players get a word right, they can go to the place represented by the word Create a game where players can win and lose points by answering questions as they get to a particular point. To get there, they point to a number. Create card games with questions, a player takes a new card if they provide the right answer, the aim is to collect as many cards as possible, players draw a card-turn. Create a contest for best poker hand. Display multimedia clips and related questions. Allow players to choose audit condition. Best poker hand using something… Create an online jeopardy game Trivial Pursuit type game which should reach for a top panel discussion Make sure a journal is kept continually, and then create an airline game starting from the map + guessing what will be underneath and points on the map. Video & interactive treasure hunt: find hidden keyword and go the place.
2.2.2 Good ideas and Innovativeness The qualities that relates to “good” seem to follow the division found in the literature between creative criteria of innovativeness and usefulness. Ideas have to be effective and practical. However, good ideas have also
other qualities. Good ideas were described in emotional terms “interesting, exciting, happening, grabbing, ideas”. They were also qualified as fun and entertaining. Games also have a strong affective impact; they have been defined as fun, exciting, competitive, and compelling (Crawford, 1997). We can thus assume that affect is a prominent factor and an important attribute of innovative ideas in this context. Other factors that might be significant in this context are interactivity and social interaction, as and play (e.g. games). A number of ideas require audience participation and interaction in a shared environment (e.g. party events). A game can provide an entertaining environment which supports cybercartography and SOI. Common points found in the game ideas could indicate directions or features of a game. Some ideas refer to puzzle and knowledge discovery “questions and answers” and mention spaces “places or map”. In order to refine creativity as innovativeness, we need to understand more clearly factors that would increase engagement. To do so we turn to the theory of aesthetic experience based on the work of Dewey.
3. Toward the creativity of engagement We argue that the theory of aesthetic experiences based on the work of Dewey (1934) can serve as the foundation for defining attributes of innovativeness. An aesthetic experience occurs when actors become completely immersed and engaged in their activity. A framework of aesthetic experience proposed by Dewey has been used in education to support science learning. Building on this research, we explore how principles of aesthetic experiences
can
help
us
in
defining
creative
attributes
for
innovativeness. We briefly review key elements of aesthetic experiences. Then we discuss in more depth two qualities of aesthetic experiences, dynamic
discovery and affect in relation to the Student on Ice project. Results from the idea generation sessions are included to inform and illustrate the discussion of these key elements. 3.1 Aesthetic experiences Learning science through aesthetic understanding demands the integration of cognitive, practical, emotional and aesthetic dimensions, all of them which are of equal interest in the learning process (Girod and co. 2003). According to Girod and co. (2003), an aesthetic experience is emotional and dramatic. Aesthetic experiences are rich in emotions. They create an emotional involvement that draws participants in. Emotional energy both drives and holds together the development of an experience. Aesthetic understanding arises from the participation of students with the environment as they become involved in a drama. An
aesthetic
experience
arises
from
dynamic
inquiries. R i c h
opportunities to explore, engage and reflect must be provided. An aesthetic experience further draws students into the world through interactions and explorations and the excitement of meeting cognitive challenges. Emotions, cognition and interactions become fused (Wong and Pugh 2001). To reach aesthetic understanding will demand unity. Unity implies a high level of coherence of all components related to the experience. Individual elements and relationships between elements merge to form a unique whole. The qualities of the emerging experience compel us to further engagement until completion. Every complete aesthetic experience is singularly or “individualizing” unique and is a highly satisfying, aesthetic understanding literally transform one’s experiences and perceptions of the world (Jackson 1998).
3.2 Ideas for aesthetic experiences Properties of aesthetic experiences like affect and dynamic inquiry can support idea generation by providing attributes for innovativeness with which to select, combine and elaborate ideas. The personal knowledge of SOI should be constructed in such a way as to provide engaging experiences that would lead to further exploration of cybercartography. 3.2.1 Dynamic Inquiry Dynamic inquiry or discovery is an important quality of aesthetic understanding. It can be defined as the process of actively seeking answers or resolutions to cognitive challenges. Some ideas generated during the sessions seem to have elements of discovery: spatial and temporal, personal (i.e. journey), and knowledge discovery. An example of spatial discovery relates “to the use of map, path taken by SOI and things they seen along the way”. An example of temporal and spatial discovery relates to a story that goes back in time showing the evolution of Antarctica up to today showing continental drift and climate changes. An example of personal discovery is a travel Blog or the diary of an explorer “insert his journey, what he saw, did, how he survived, etc”. One game idea also refers to keeping a journal. Knowledge discovery can be brought by questions or quests (an element of game ideas as seen in table 3). An example of knowledge discovery relates to an Antarctica-centred story on the question “would it be there’, showing Antarctica 500 years back to 500 years in future, describing the influences and causes of climate changes and letting users establish the consequences. Dynamic inquiry provides ways of seeing and interacting with an environment that leads to aesthetic experiences. Thus these ideas having some value for dynamic discovery could be articulated (or combined) and developed, for example, through a game world.
3.2.2 Affect Affect is another important quality of an aesthetic experience. Affect can be defined as an emotional investment that helps to create a personal link to an experience (Morgan 2000). Affect seems to be an important factor in our project. To motivate our audiences, it is important to give them something exciting and entertaining, with which they can play and learn. The most satisfying experience of all contains an element of surprise. Curiosity and interest are indeed important qualities of aesthetic experience (Jackson, 1998). To enhance felt involvement, or feeling of personal relevance, ideas that create empathy with users can be investigated further. Ideas from the idea generation are centred on the SOI themselves (e.g. a documentary called “Antarctica the final frontier” based on student’s experiences). Sharing experiences for example through chat room between past and future SOI was also mentioned. One idea relates to a story about the life of an explorer. Ideas connected to the life (and fate) of animals “such as save the great whale” can have a great dramatic value. Seeing the world through the eyes of a specific animal can enhance the emotional impact and arouse sympathy. Virtual agents could be based on famous explorers. Social interaction is an important factor in our project: shared environments provide a mean to connect and interact with people and foster social emotions such as friendship and trust. Multiplayer gamers might have to collaborate (i.e. players cannot solve an enigma without co-operating) to increase feelings of support and solidarity. In a museum, an exhibit that is designed so that more than one person can interact with it and each other might be more successful than an exhibit designed for a single user.
3.3 The Antarctica game and aesthetic experiences As we have presented in paragraph 2.2, games appears to be relevant to our project. A game environment seems particularly suited for the construction of aesthetic experiences in our context. Games have a compelling nature which is widely acknowledged. Games are translators of experience (Cartwright, 2001). We can combine, elaborate and integrate ideas related to affect and dynamic discovery into a game. Games have actions, setting, and, plots that provide unity. Characters with specific traits and characteristics can be developed to enhance emotional involvement and fun. Games are exciting, they have fulfilment (e.g. winning or finishing the quest), and they have enigmas to be solved. Computer games are contrived and controlled situations. A computer game can form a microword in which cybercartography and Antarctica issues are explored to reach aesthetic understanding. In the cybercartography project, we are curently developing a game that should challenge students to think through an environmental issue like global warming. The objectives of the game are to teach students basic facts about Antarctica, about the scientific process, and decision making. The game is situated in an Antarctic station; and it includes representations of Antartic landscapes. It is populated with characters such as students, scientists, support personnel and some fauna (e.g. penguins). To allow students to develop an understanding of global warming, we are developing different types of quests. Some quests are constructed around the scientific process: questions and hypotheses, data collection, data analysis, and results etc. Plots are based on the scientist actions or actions to be taken by players, and dramatic visualisation (e.g. what if scenario). Multi-sensory modalities can be combined to evoke powerful emotional images to illustrate climate changes. We are designing a number of rhetorical quests, using different narrative modes, to communicate information, challenge students to think through issues and foster social emotions. Using humour in
dialogues can augment the expressiveness of the information and provide a ritualised way for characters to move in conversation creating trust (Bickmore and Cassell, 2001). We are still in the very early stages of the game development. Narrative and emotional elements will be revised to insure the game cohesiveness and unity, and to support the creation of an aesthetic experience. Characters, actions, dialogue and props all should function to provoke and enhance such an experience. The game will be designed and evaluated in an iterative manner, in the first instances by gathering informal feedbacks from key “players” teachers and students and then by more formal evaluations. 3.4 Aesthetic experiences and innovativeness We have discussed values of ideas produced during idea generation sessions in connection with qualities of an aesthetic experiences. The ideas discussed stemming from these sessions might not seem quite creative
however
they
show
potential
for
creating
aesthetic
understanding. We argued that dynamic inquiry and affect can be used as attributes of innovativeness. By doing so we provide means for designers to select, combine and develop further ideas resulting from innovative systems. We aims at refining these attributes through theories of aesthetic experiences and related theories such as affective learning. Although some subjectivity will always be involved in the evaluation of ideas, it is hoped that we might be able to specify attributes
of
innovativeness
further.
Moreover
experimental
investigations should test the pertinence of these criteria first in our context and then for other systems.
4. Conclusion This paper addressed the identification of creative criteria that support innovativeness in idea-generation. Creative criteria were defined as fluency of ideas, variety, innovativeness and usefulness of ideas. We
have discussed the creative criteria of innovativeness, as the most relevant in the very early development stages of interactive systems. However we did not find any indication for defining novelty more precisely or what makes an idea original. We first further explored creativity as innovativeness through the cybercartography project. The definition of good ideas gave us indications for characterising innovativeness in this context. Innovative ideas were identified as affective ideas. In order to elaborate further attributes of innovativeness we turned to research on aesthetic experiences based on the work of Dewey. Qualities of aesthetic experiences were discussed in our context. We suggested affect and dynamic discovery as attributes of innovativeness. In the SOI project, we are interested in ideas that promote innovativeness in terms of affect and dynamic discovery because they engage the user’s curiosity, provokes the emotion of empathy and fun. As games seem particularly relevant to our project, we briefly presented the development of aesthetic understanding in a game environment. We can apply cybercartography concepts to enhance users’ knowledge and modify their world view. Scientific data about Antarctica can be linked to society problems to engage students into the scientific world and the quest for solutions. It is believed that designing aesthetic experiences in this context would lead to more powerful learning and motivating experiences. We will further develop aesthetic experiences as described in this paper, in the game environment but also within the design of other applications for this project. Moreover, empirical investigations should show if this approach provide more engaging experiences. It is hoped that further research on aesthetic experience will support creative ways of interacting with educational and museum systems. Within this framework, we we should also elaborate guidelines for the design of such systems.
Another direction for future research is the development of a framework for creative ideation to support innovative applications. By defining creative criteria and discussing more specifically creative innovativeness, we have established the beginning of a framework for creative ideation. The value of innovativeness should be tested within the development of cybercartography applications and for science museums. We will also refine the criteria for usefulness in these domains. Different representations for visualising creativity as variety could be assessed and implemented in relation with creativity support systems. Using this framework, the efficiency of creativity methods and brainstorming tools could be investigated. A framework for creative ideation should indeed help practitioners choosing tools and practices that enhance creativity and minimise production losses. It is hoped that a framework for creative ideation will also assist designers in getting a better understanding of creativity requirements.
Acknowledgments This work was made possible by a fellowship from Cognos Inc. The Cybercartography and the New Economy project for which Dr. D. R. Fraser Taylor is the Principal Investigator is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada under the Initiative on the New Economy (INE) Collaborative Research Initiative Grant A special thanks to HotLab Members for their participation in the idea generation sessions and, especially to Karen Philip for helpful discussions. A special thanks for JP Fiset and Birgit Wood for their inspirational designs and the game team for lively debates.
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