Rethinking creativity: UX designers’ perspectives in an AI-driven world - A qualitative study on user experience designers’ perception of creativity in the era of generative artificial intelligence

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master_Nguyen_Huong_2025.pdf (1.94 MB)

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School of Business | Master's thesis
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2025-10-07

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Master's Programme in International Design Business Management

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en

Pages

142

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Abstract

Creativity has been a complex phenomenon evolving throughout the history of creativity research with little theoretical consensus on how creativity can be defined. The recent rise in adoption of generative artificial intelligence (AI) into creative activities have been considered a paradigm shift for creativity research, inviting the need to revisit the definition of creativity to accommodate this change. This study contributes to this discussion with insights about how creativity in the age of AI is perceived in the field of user experience (UX) design, drawing from interviews with eleven UX designers based in Finland, coming from diverse cultural backgrounds and levels of field experience. The key findings highlighted that while generative AI has changed the contexts of how creativity happens, the essence of creativity in the age of AI remains the same as before AI usage was common, hence, no redefinition of creativity is needed. The perception of creativity is bounded by not one but multiple types of contexts, where AI acts as part of these contexts rather than a change factor to what defines creativity. Creativity in the field of UX design in particular has been perceived to be essentially about a mindset of challenging the norms while adapting to constraints. Practical implications were provided regarding how UX designers, organisations, and design education can nurture creativity in the AI-driven future of design work.

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Turunen, Taija

Keywords

creativity, artificial intelligence, definition of creativity, design creativity, UX design, creativity research, AI, creativity and AI

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https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:aalto-202511138785

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[gradu] Kauppakorkeakoulu / BIZ