How Epistemic Uncertainty Tolerance Affects Creative Idea Generation in Design

Creativity in collaborative design unfolds under conditions of unspecific and ambiguous information. While such epistemic uncertainty is inherent to many design projects, its impact on creativity is underexplored. This study investigated how epistemic uncertainty induced through problem briefings affects creativity during idea generation, and how tolerance for epistemic uncertainty moderates this relationship. A between-subjects experiment with 67 student participants collaborating in 18 groups tested idea generation under high versus low epistemic uncertainty conditions. The results showed a dual pathway effect: high epistemic uncertainty, compared to low epistemic uncertainty, increased idea originality, but decreased idea usefulness. Average group tolerance for uncertainty did not significantly moderate this relationship. Instead, a tolerant-anchor effect emerged: having at least one highly tolerant individual in a group supports idea usefulness under uncertain conditions. The findings contribute new insight into the complex ways in which epistemic uncertainty shapes creativity in collaborative design.