Supporting innovation processes using material artefacts: Comparing the use of LEGO bricks and moderation cards as boundary objects

Abstract

Various collaborative innovation methods are increasingly used in strategy development and the implementation of organizational challenges. The aim of applying them is to involve different agents of an organization and support them in generating new ideas in a joint effort. For this research, an experimental field study was conducted in the course of an innovation workshop for 80 top managers in the public sector using a quantitative questionnaire and an ethnographic observation. A novel workshop format was designed using different materials to support the beginning of this innovation process. The groups used either traditional workshop materials, that is, moderation cards (small sheets of colored paper), or novel workshop materials, that is, LEGO bricks. Our results show that both materials significantly influenced the human experience in the workshop. The use of LEGO bricks was perceived as more enjoyable, active, and inspiring than the use of moderation cards. However, the perceived group outcome using moderation cards was rated higher than that working with LEGO bricks. We discuss how using novel workshop materials changes the experience of an innovation workshop, but we also highlight that additional factors, including translation effects, trained facilitators, and specific innovation phases, must be considered to outperform the use of traditional materials.

Reflections and Considerations on Running Creative Visualization Learning Activities

“…Using different materials can facilitate learning and support the creative process, which is crucial when designing data visualizations. Besides the main-stream digital resources used when teaching visual activities, such as a computer, phone, or tablet, different materials like cardboard, paper, pens, plastics, LEGO bricks [85], cards [40,71,72], other tangible objects, or even people can be leveraged to adhere to individual learning styles and understand data visualization processes from different perspectives. Methods like these are also often used in creativity and innovation workshops (cf.…”

“…Methods like these are also often used in creativity and innovation workshops (cf. design thinking) [85]. There is also a wide range of instructional methods to draw upon, such as active learning [13], deconstruct/reconstruct methods [58], experience-based learning, storytelling, comics [54] and many more.…”

Alone but together: flow experience and its impact on creative output in LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®

“…In a period of increasingly unimaginative strategy meetings in the mid-1990s, the LEGO company began to develop the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® (LSP) method to support more collaborative and innovative settings. In contrast to traditional meetings, this method places an emphasis on a specific material (Zenk et al , 2021), LEGO bricks, and follows a predefined process to facilitate workshops for improved participation, collaboration and higher creative output (Kristiansen and Rasmussen, 2014; Wengel et al , 2019). Over the last decade, LSP has been utilized as a cocreative workshop method in various organizations worldwide, including Apple, IKEA and IBM, to support creative output in organizational change, idea development and innovation.…”