Collaborative Sketching: Human-AI Collaboration Modes for Enhancing Designers’ Performance and Experience in Sketching

The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) technology is changing the working patterns of designers. AI is becoming a key collaboration partner for designers, supporting them in performing design tasks and inspiring creative thought. Although studies have investigated the collaborative framework between designers and AI, its guidance for specific design practices is limited. This study proposes three designer-AI collaboration modes with typical operable processes during sketching. We conducted a user experiment to compare the effects of different collaboration modes on the quantity, novelty, variety of design outcomes, and the designer’s experience. The results show that the collaboration modes can significantly affect the sketch’s quantity and variety, as well as the designer’s overall satisfaction. Our study focuses on the sketching stage and mainly contributes to bridging the theoretical research and design practice regarding designer-AI collaboration.