Artistic Practice Opportunities in CST Evaluations: A Longitudinal Group Deployment of ArtKrit

2026-04-29

AI Summary

This study addresses a critical gap in the evaluation of creativity support tools (CSTs)—the frequent neglect of temporal evolution and social interaction dimensions. Through a three-week longitudinal deployment involving nine digital artists organized into three communities of practice, participants engaged in weekly drawing exercises using the ArtKrit computational sketching tool, guided by a researcher-artist co-participation model. We propose reframing CST evaluation itself as a meaningful artistic practice rather than merely a data collection exercise, introducing a longitudinal, group-based assessment paradigm. Findings reveal that users’ relationships with the tool evolved over time from exploratory experimentation toward selective integration or strategic misuse, accompanied by shifts in artistic perception. Moreover, the emergence of an artist support network significantly enhanced participants’ creative confidence, sense of safety, and identification with personal expression.

Abstract

Creativity support tools (CSTs) aim to elevate the quality of artists' creative processes and artifacts. Yet most current CST evaluations overlook temporal and social aspects of tool use. To address this gap, we present a longitudinal, group-based CST evaluation through a three-week deployment of ArtKrit, a computational drawing tool that supports disciplined drawing. Nine digital artists, organized into three communities of practice, completed weekly "master studies" alongside a researcher-artist. Our results show users' evolving relationships with ArtKrit over time - from early experimentation to selective incorporation or misuse - alongside changes in their ways of artistic seeing. These changes unfolded within artist support networks that fostered confidence and creative safety, and validated individual expression. Overall, our findings suggest that CST evaluations can - and should - be designed as opportunities for meaningful artistic engagement rather than purely extractive measurement exercises. We contribute this longitudinal, group-based approach as one CST evaluation method.

Problem

• creativity support tools
• CST evaluation
• longitudinal study
• group-based evaluation
• artistic practice

Innovation

• longitudinal evaluation
• group-based deployment
• creativity support tools
• communities of practice
• artistic engagement