Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
mean score for originality increased significantly from 1.4 before to 1.8 after the interaction
(
p
< 0.01). These scores indicated a qualitative change from mostly “very common” (low
score) to “slightly novel” (high score) thoughts.
In contrast, the analysis indicated no significant impact of the tool on
relevance
or
workability
of the ideas generated. Figure 2 shows that the mean rating score for relevance
decreased slightly after interaction with the tool. However, the change was not statistically
significant (3.1 versus 3.0, ns). These scores indicated that similarly “relevant” requirements
were addressed by the participants, irrespective of the change in their originality.
Similarly, there was no significant change in the workability of the ideas generated due
to tool use. The mean rating score after interaction was not significantly different from that
before the interaction with the tool (2.5 versus 2.5, ns). These scores also suggest that
“workable” ideas were generated, irrespective of their increased level of originality.
The value of increasing originality of ideas would have been undermined if the ideas
were less workable or relevant - however, this was not the case. Therefore, application of the
protocol increased the overall quality of the elicited requirements. The results of this study
support the idea that thought-assisting applications can be developed, learned, practiced,
and used to generate ideas.
Findings
The main findings of the present study indicate that a solo-brainstorming-based
learning tool had a positive effect on students' creative performances in a systems require-
ments specification task. This outcome was evident in the originality aspect of task
performance but not in relevance and workability. Users were found to generate significantly
more original ideas as the result of their interaction with the tool, while maintaining similar
levels of relevance and workability (i.e., increases in originality did not come at the cost of
less workable or less relevant ideas).
The results of the current study provide support for the view that creative performance
can be enhanced by appropriate stimulation and instruction as suggested by some theorists
(Ford & Gioia, 2000; Marakas, 1998). More specifically, the study revealed that significant
improvement was achieved in the originality of ideas generated by the participating students
due to their interaction with the tool studied here. Participants were found to shift their
thoughts from common and well-known concepts to slightly novel ones after participating
in the interacting session. The results also agree with our earlier findings of improved quality
of creative performance from another similar empirical study conducted in the decision-
making context (Aurum et al., 2001). Essentially, the results support the idea that thought-
assisting applications can be developed, learned, practiced, and used to generate ideas.
Thus, they can enable an individual to think creatively, provided that the principles are clearly
understood.
Furthermore, the results of the current study indicate that increased originality did not
have an adverse effect on the appropriateness of ideas (e.g., workability, relevance)
generated by the participants. The study found that participants tended to continue
generating similarly relevant and workable ideas irrespective of the change in their originality.
This is an important finding, as it suggests that the tool encouraged innovative rather than
simply original thought. According to Shalley and Perry-Smith (2001), translating creative
ideas into innovative products requires these ideas to be appropriate. The current study
demonstrated the required appropriateness in terms of adequate relevancy and workability
