Fostering motivation and creativity for computer users

Creativity might be viewed as any process which results in a novel and useful product. People use computers for creative tasks; they flesh out ideas for text, graphics, engineering solutions, etc. Computer programming is an especially creative activity, but few tools for programming aid creativity. Most computers are used in solitude; however, people depend on social supports for creativity. A computer could provide some of the social support and cues normally offered by humans to keep a worker motivated and help him consider useful alternatives. Computers could support and filter potentially creativity-enhancing communication with other humans. This paper develops the notion that creativity and motivation enhancement can easily be incorporated into the design of high-quality human-computer interaction.