Assessing design creativity : Refinements to the novelty assessment method

Sarkar and chakrabarti (2011) developed a method to assess novelty of ideas and products. Their method has received attention in design research, as indicated by a number of studies referring to or using their method. While their novelty assessment method has received attention, deficiencies were found in it when it was applied in our own studies. It is the purpose of this article to overcome these deficiencies. In total, four modifications have been proposed to their method, and are supported by drawing on examples of products.