Sketch or play? LEGO® stimulates divergent thinking for non-sketchers in HCI conceptual ideation

Annemarie Lesage; Hubert David Au-Yeung; Béatrice C. Caron; Simon Bourdreau; Pierre Majorique Léger

doi:10.1145/3290607.3313023

Sketch or play? LEGO^® stimulates divergent thinking for non-sketchers in HCI conceptual ideation

Annemarie Lesage
, Hubert David Au-Yeung
, Béatrice C. Caron
, Simon Bourdreau
, Pierre Majorique Léger

Research output: Contribution to Book/Report types › Contribution to conference proceedings › peer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Sketching is known to support divergent thinking during conceptual ideation. Yet, in HCI teams, non-designers are known to be reluctant to sketch. Looking for a tool that could support non-designers' divergent thinking to creatively offset familiar solutions while providing starter suggestions, we hypothesized that LEGO pieces could replace sketching. In a comparative lab experiment, 36 participants did two conceptual ideations of Web interfaces, one using paper/pen, the other LEGO, in random sequence. The 72 resulting interfaces were assessed on their fluency, flexibility, elaboration and originality according to Guilford [6] and Torrance's [9] divergent thinking framework. Our main finding is that LEGO could substitute sketching for non-designers; the 3D figurative, constructive pieces provide a stimulating visual representation that supports divergent thinking by offering alternate meanings, generating greater number of elements to react to, thus enhancing the use of analogies.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	CHI EA 2019 - Extended Abstracts of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Publisher	Association for Computing Machinery
ISBN (Electronic)	9781450359719
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/3290607.3313023
Publication status	Published - 2 May 2019
Externally published	Yes
Event	2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI EA 2019 - Glasgow, United Kingdom Duration: 4 May 2019 → 9 May 2019

Publication series

Name	Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings

Conference

Conference	2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI EA 2019
Country/Territory	United Kingdom
City	Glasgow
Period	4/05/19 → 9/05/19

!!!Keywords

Creativity support
Design methods
Lab study
Visual design

Access to Document

10.1145/3290607.3313023

Cite this

Lesage, A., Au-Yeung, H. D., Caron, B. C., Bourdreau, S., & Léger, P. M. (2019). Sketch or play? LEGO^® stimulates divergent thinking for non-sketchers in HCI conceptual ideation. In CHI EA 2019 - Extended Abstracts of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems Article 3313023 (Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings). Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3290607.3313023

Lesage, Annemarie ; Au-Yeung, Hubert David ; Caron, Béatrice C. et al. / Sketch or play? LEGO^® stimulates divergent thinking for non-sketchers in HCI conceptual ideation. CHI EA 2019 - Extended Abstracts of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. Association for Computing Machinery, 2019. (Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings).

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title = "Sketch or play? LEGO{\textregistered} stimulates divergent thinking for non-sketchers in HCI conceptual ideation",

abstract = "Sketching is known to support divergent thinking during conceptual ideation. Yet, in HCI teams, non-designers are known to be reluctant to sketch. Looking for a tool that could support non-designers' divergent thinking to creatively offset familiar solutions while providing starter suggestions, we hypothesized that LEGO pieces could replace sketching. In a comparative lab experiment, 36 participants did two conceptual ideations of Web interfaces, one using paper/pen, the other LEGO, in random sequence. The 72 resulting interfaces were assessed on their fluency, flexibility, elaboration and originality according to Guilford [6] and Torrance's [9] divergent thinking framework. Our main finding is that LEGO could substitute sketching for non-designers; the 3D figurative, constructive pieces provide a stimulating visual representation that supports divergent thinking by offering alternate meanings, generating greater number of elements to react to, thus enhancing the use of analogies.",

keywords = "Creativity support, Design methods, Lab study, Visual design",

author = "Annemarie Lesage and Au-Yeung, \{Hubert David\} and Caron, \{B{\'e}atrice C.\} and Simon Bourdreau and L{\'e}ger, \{Pierre Majorique\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019 Copyright is held by the owner/author(s).; 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI EA 2019 ; Conference date: 04-05-2019 Through 09-05-2019",

year = "2019",

month = may,

day = "2",

doi = "10.1145/3290607.3313023",

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Lesage, A, Au-Yeung, HD, Caron, BC, Bourdreau, S & Léger, PM 2019, Sketch or play? LEGO^® stimulates divergent thinking for non-sketchers in HCI conceptual ideation. in CHI EA 2019 - Extended Abstracts of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems., 3313023, Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings, Association for Computing Machinery, 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI EA 2019, Glasgow, United Kingdom, 4/05/19. https://doi.org/10.1145/3290607.3313023

Sketch or play? LEGO^® stimulates divergent thinking for non-sketchers in HCI conceptual ideation. / Lesage, Annemarie; Au-Yeung, Hubert David; Caron, Béatrice C. et al.
CHI EA 2019 - Extended Abstracts of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. Association for Computing Machinery, 2019. 3313023 (Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings).

Research output: Contribution to Book/Report types › Contribution to conference proceedings › peer-review

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AU - Au-Yeung, Hubert David

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AU - Léger, Pierre Majorique

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AB - Sketching is known to support divergent thinking during conceptual ideation. Yet, in HCI teams, non-designers are known to be reluctant to sketch. Looking for a tool that could support non-designers' divergent thinking to creatively offset familiar solutions while providing starter suggestions, we hypothesized that LEGO pieces could replace sketching. In a comparative lab experiment, 36 participants did two conceptual ideations of Web interfaces, one using paper/pen, the other LEGO, in random sequence. The 72 resulting interfaces were assessed on their fluency, flexibility, elaboration and originality according to Guilford [6] and Torrance's [9] divergent thinking framework. Our main finding is that LEGO could substitute sketching for non-designers; the 3D figurative, constructive pieces provide a stimulating visual representation that supports divergent thinking by offering alternate meanings, generating greater number of elements to react to, thus enhancing the use of analogies.

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Lesage A, Au-Yeung HD, Caron BC, Bourdreau S, Léger PM. Sketch or play? LEGO^® stimulates divergent thinking for non-sketchers in HCI conceptual ideation. In CHI EA 2019 - Extended Abstracts of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. Association for Computing Machinery. 2019. 3313023. (Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings). doi: 10.1145/3290607.3313023