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In this article, we analyse the concept of design thinking with its process, the team structure, the work environment, the specific culture, and certain brainstorming rules and techniques. The goal of this work is to understand how the creative mechanisms of design thinking work and how they might be improved. For this purpose, we refer to the idea of creativity as an evolutionary process, which is determined by generation (i.e., recombination and mutation), selection, and retention of ideas. We evaluate the design thinking process in terms of its capabilities to activate these mechanisms, and we propose possible improvements. This paper contributes to a better understanding of creative design processes in general and the design thinking process in particular, and will serve as a foundation for further research about creative mechanisms. A$

Designerly innovation tools, such as canvases, are widely used for facilitating team and collaboration processes. This paper outlines the potential design space of such innovation canvases. Based on a systematic analysis of 123 existing canvases we developed a morphological box that distinguishes between six different parameters identified as relevant: (1) addressed process step, (2) involved media, (3) sequence of use, (4) available instructions, (5) number of elements, and (6) design specifics, as well as possible choices among them. The analysis also yielded several research gaps. Furthermore, we present an in-depth discussion of the possible theoretical underpinnings of innovation canvases and summarize them in a theoretical framework. The results of this paper provide references for other researchers and practitioners to better understand working mechanisms and fields of application of existing canvases and for developing such visual innovation tools for their own purposes.

Work and study environments that facilitate creative design processes-so called creative spaces-have gained an increased interest in the past years. This paper contributes to this emerging field by providing a set of guidelines for creating such environments. We developed a set of 49 abstracted design principles (patterns) that are empirically developed, embedded in the broader system of creative spaces, and supplemented by examples. The suggested principles provide concrete, yet adaptable, guidelines for designers, educators, and spatial planners who want to redesign their creative environments.

Workshops are often used in the information systems (IS) and design fields to evaluate artifacts or to co-create business innovations. However, the evaluation of workshops is often conducted in a rather unsystematic and heterogenous way. This paper introduces a set of guidelines for designing or evaluating artifacts through workshops. These guidelines include five evaluation principles and a framework that outlines appropriate evaluation methods for different research goals. The relevant constructs and principles were identified based on related literature. The derived evaluation matrix was then revised based on ratings of five experts who independently assigned appropriate research methods for different evaluation foci. The framework's applicability was evaluated by comparing it with ten papers from the IS and design fields. The proposed guidelines can support researchers with conducting workshop evaluations in a comparable and replicable way, which will help to improve research rigor in the future.

Sketching and prototyping are parts of a ‘reflective conversation with materials of a design situation’ (Schön, 1992). To support this conversation, we developed a reflective tool -the Reflection Canvas- that facilitates reflection activities through sketching and prototyping on the one hand and verbalisation on the other. We introduced the reflective tool to design students. Based on observation and answers from a questionnaire data reveal that guided reflection structured the process in a helpful way. It also turned out students had difficulties to switch from visualisation to verbalisation.

Generative AI algorithms that are able to generate creative output are progressing at tremendous speed. This paper presents a research agenda for Generative AI-based support for designers. We present examples of existing applications and thus illustrate the possible application space of Generative AI reflecting the current state of this technology. Furthermore, we provide a theoretical foundation for AI-supported design, based on a typology of design knowledge and the concept of evolutionary creativity. Both concepts are discussed in relation to the changing roles of AI and the human designer. The outlined research agenda presents 10 research opportunities for possible AI-support to augment the designer of the future. The results presented in this paper provide researchers with an introduction to and overview of Generative AI, as well as the theoretical understanding of potential implications for the future of the design discipline.

The term “creative space” describes a relatively recent phenomenon of innovative workplace design. Such creative workspaces are becoming popular in industry and academia. However, the impact of specific spatial design decisions on creativity and innovation is not yet fully understood. This paper provides an overview of state-of-the-art research on creative work and learning environments. We conducted a systematic literature search within the Scopus database and identified a total of 73 relevant sources discussing creative spaces within academic, practice, and other innovation environments. Among the included sources are 51 academic publications and 22 sources from company research and illustrative coffee-table books. We analyzed the sources using three lenses of interest: (1) the types of theoretical and practical contributions that are provided, (2) the spatial characteristics that are suggested to be beneficial for creativity and innovation, and (3) the discussed potential of new technologies for designing or researching creative spaces. The results provide in-depth insight into the current state of research on the topic of creative spaces. Practitioners, educators, and researchers can use the presented overview to investigate the possible impact of creative workspace design and identify research gaps that can be filled by conducting further research in the field.