An Online Collaboration Platform Enhances the Design Process for Creativity in Cultural and Creative Product Design Projects

Background and Aim: The growing demand for spiritual and cultural enrichment in today’s digital economy presents new opportunities and challenges for cultural and creative product design. This study investigates whether integrating the online collaboration platform Fabrie into the design thinking process can enhance creativity in cultural and creative product design, addressing a critical gap in technology-driven pedagogy. Materials and Methods: A quasi-experimental study was conducted with 85 sophomore product design students (treatment group: n=43; control group: n=42). Participants, preselected for comparable proficiency in computer-aided design and overall performance, underwent no pretest to baseline equivalence. After a 5-week intervention, outcomes were assessed using the Creative Product Semantic Scale (CPSS), which evaluated novelty, resolution, style, visualization, and collaboration, and a supplementary engagement questionnaire. Results: Mann-Whitney U test revealed that the treatment group exhibited higher mean ranks than the control group across all six dimensions. Significant improvements were observed in resolution (p = 0.016), style (p = 0.042), and visualization (p = 0.040). These results suggest that the integration of design thinking with an online collaborative platform positively enhances students' design capabilities. Conclusion: The findings demonstrate that Fabrie significantly enhances practical problem-solving, aesthetic expression, and visual communication in design education, providing actionable insights for integrating technology into creativity-driven pedagogy. While promising, generalizability is limited by sample size and homogeneity. Future work should diversify participant demographics and benchmark Fabrie against emerging platforms to strengthen applicability.