Designing Creativity Support Tools for Failure

Joy Kim, Avi Bagla, Michael S. Bernstein

Abstract: Creative tools today strive to amplify our ability to create high-quality work. However, experiencing failure is also an important part of mastering creative skills. While experts have developed strategies for engaging in risky experiments and learning from mistakes, novices lack the experience and mindset needed to use failures as opportunities for growth. Current tools intimidate the unsure novice, as they are designed around showcasing success or critiquing finished work, rather than providing safe spaces for experimentation. To better support experiences of failure for novices, we instead propose flipping the value of failure in creativity tools from something to avoid to something to pursue actively. To do this, we develop a taxonomy of creative activities that people engage in when they aim to succeed. We then invert this taxonomy to derive a new set of creative activities where deliberate failure can provide a path towards creative confidence. Lastly, we envision possible creativity support tools as examples of the potential value of supporting activities where failure is encouraged and showcased.