Evaluation

Whilst much is known about creativity from research, and the outcomes of creative practice, what is less well known, or perhaps less talked about, is the role of evaluation in creativity. Evaluation in creative practice is an entirely different matter to that which takes place in a research context, where the generation of new knowledge is as much a part of the expected outcomes as the production of a novel design or artefact. Depending on the particular context or domain conditions, criteria for evaluation may be established prior to or arise during the creative process, may be implicit or explicit, may be shared within a collaborating group or known only to an individual creator. Whichever is the case there are many varied situations where evaluation is both necessary and important to the production of a successful outcome. There is a clear differentiation between judging the worth of a finished artefact and evaluating the creative thinking process. In the first case, this form of evaluation is open to all comers if the finished outcome is made available to a wider constituency. In the second case, the decision-making is within the individual or team and is not usually generally available to outsiders….more on this subject can be found in:

Candy, L. (2012) Evaluating Creativity, in Carroll, J. M.(ed). Creativity and Rationale: Enhancing Human Experience By Design, Springer.