Design research should provide outcomes that contribute to the technological development, the product innovation and, generally, to improve industry and life. However, while it can be quite obvious for those branches that produce "tangible" research (e.g. about machinery, mechanics, information technology, materials), it is not trivial to evaluate the extent to which less practice-oriented studies like that of creativity actually have a practical effect in industry.

The aim of this special issue is to retrieve a set of high quality scientific contributions discussing and/or showing if and to what extent, decades of research efforts in Design Creativity affected industrial practice. A picture of the current situation is expected, from which it would be possible to highlight what has been actually achieved, how large is the focus on creativity in industry, and what still needs to be done. More specifically, it is expected to extract information about what hinders the diffusion of such a kind of research findings in industry and the adoption of creativity-oriented practices.

A fundamental prerequisite for the contributions submitted in this special issue, is the presence of sound evaluations and/or assessment approaches, needed to understand how industry actually perceives pros and/or cons of design creativity research.

Indicative list of anticipated themes

• Creativity assessment in Industry: objectives, scope and impact of acknowledged and/or new creativity metrics on product design and development processes.
• Creativity issues in industrial practice.
• Creativity concepts and their adoption in different engineering contexts.
• Case studies where the adoption of creativity research provided measurable benefits from the Industry viewpoint.
• Industry-Academia communication: does Design Creativity research help?
• Understanding what Industry actually needs from Design Creativity research.
• Educational aspects of creativity and their impact on the diffusion of Design Creativity research in Industry.
• Patents and creativity: how creativity research can help Industry in reaching the patentability of their products?
• Creativity as a fundamental parameter for prototyping strategies in Industry.
• The Industry viewpoint on the actual role of additive manufacturing technology as a source of creativity.
• The Industry viewpoint on eco-design, eco-innovation and sustainability as a source of creativity.

Guest editors

Lorenzo Fiorineschi, University of Florence (lorenzo.fiorineschi@unifi.it)

Federico Rotini, University of Florence (federico.rotini@unifi.it)

Yuri Borgianni, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano (yuri.borgianni@unibz.it)

Lorenzo Maccioni, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano (lorenzo.maccioni@unibz.it)

Key dates

Submission window opens: 1st February 2021

Submission closes: 31st October 2021

For more information: https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/jedt/years-design-creativity-research-what-industry-aware