We’re All in This Together: Evaluating the Impact of Designers’ Mood Dynamics on Collaborative Design Project Outcomes

Abstract This study extends prior work to investigate the relationship between team mood dynamics and design outcomes of novice designers. In this paper, we investigate how divergence is related to both project performance and quality of collaborative work. Prior research has studied team dynamics but has not thoroughly investigated mood in the context of an extended design engagement. This limited knowledge leaves a gap in our understanding of how the complex interactions of emotional states among team members affects the ability of the team to work together effectively, and ultimately, achieve expected design outcomes. Research that fills this gap can help improve design outcomes and educational strategies. Thus, a study was conducted using the self-reflections of student teams collected from three different points over the course of a semester-long design project, in order to understand how the variation in designers’ moods during collaborative design activities influence project outcomes and quality of collaborative work. Our results show that divergence of team members’ moods with respect to tone, positive tone, and negative emotion were negatively related to project outcomes. These results provide a foundation for future systematic investigations of team-based affect on design outcomes and show how design can be viewed through the lens of Symbolic Interactionism, evident in how team members create meaning and shared understanding within the design context.