When Does an Idea Become an Innovation? The Role of Individual and Group Creativity in Videogame Design

• Main Author: TSCHANG, Feichin, Ted
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2003
• Subjects: entertainment industries; videogame industry; creativity; knowledge creation; innovation; product development; Technology and Innovation
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/1443; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/lkcsb_research/article/2442/viewcontent/TschangT2003IdeaInnovation.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

In between creativity studies of idea generation and knowledge management studies of the codification and transmission of knowledge are a fuller set of cognitive activities, including problem-solving and creative impulses. This paper examines the case of designers in the US videogame industry to develop a set of frames for determining how their ideas come about, how ideas are transformed in the process of product development, and when different models of organizing innovation are efficacious. It is found that different types of creativity are used in game design, that sometimes the individual is more influential, but that in many cases, the group is essential.