LEVERAGING CREATIVITY OF DESIGN STUDENTS WITH A MAGIC-BASED INSPIRATION TOOL

In this paper, we propose an unorthodox approach to enhancing creativity and user experience (UX) in product design with a “magic”-based tool. To support the introduction of magic in product interaction design, we created magic-based inspirational cards that show examples of magic effects. The tool was developed in two modalities, a “static” containing card that show illustrations of magic effects, and a “dynamic” containing the same cards plus videos of magic effects. The tools were experimentally tested with 30 novice designers who were asked to use the tools as a source of inspiration and to generate design ideas for a design task. The ideas generated by the participants were assessed in terms of creativity and intended UX. The findings show that the use of magic-based inspiration resulted in significantly more original but less feasible ideas, and that the use of videos led to design ideas that were significantly more “enjoyable” and more “exciting” than the use of cards only. Consequently, we propose guidelines on the use of magic-based inspiration tools for group ideation in order to help design students create original, enjoyable and exciting UX.