The Impact of Hybrid Collaboration Methods on Idea Quantity, Quality, and Collaborative Interactions

The hybrid collaboration method, which combines individual and collaborative idea generation sequentially, can help generate more creative ideas compared to collaborating from the beginning, by encouraging active participation during collaboration. While the effectiveness of hybrid collaboration methods varies depending on the combination order of individual and collaborative idea generation, there is ongoing debate regarding the optimal order. To examine the optimal order, this study investigated the effects of the hybrid collaboration method based on the combination order, on the quantity and quality of generated ideas, as well as collaborative interactions. An experiment with 87 participants showed that participants using a hybrid collaboration method generated significantly more ideas than those who collaborated from the beginning. Although no significant differences were found in the quality of all generated ideas across conditions, participants who generated ideas individually before collaborating produced higher-quality top three ideas. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in the amount of collaborative interaction, even with reduced collaboration time in the hybrid collaboration methods. Notably, participants who generated ideas individually before collaborating focused more on ideation during their interactions. These findings highlight the potential of hybrid collaboration methods, particularly individual ideation before collaboration, as an effective strategy for enhancing creativity.