Research

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Innovation is critical to our economic and social prosperity. When we think about innovation, we often think about the outcome – the innovative ideas – yet it is people who develop, modify, and implement these ideas.  Innovation work can be a challenging endeavor. People must work together to navigate ambiguous problem contexts, overcome setbacks, and persist in the face of the status quo.

In the Delta Lab, my students and I study and design collective innovation, an innovation process that harnesses social, human, and economic capital from distributed networks to develop and implement novel and useful ideas.  Collective innovation depends open, scalable social media to tap into diverse, large scale networks. I am currently investigating crowdfunding, crowdsourcing and social innovation networks, and Design for America as infrastructure to support collective innovation.

We do so, by using multi-method research methods including qualitative research and design research to study collective innovation.   We produce theory, design principles, and systems to support innovators on and offline. We produce empirically validated measures to assess effectiveness such as innovation self-efficacy.

PhD Students

Eureka Foong is a 5th year PhD student who studies online feedback exchange. She is supported by the Design Cluster Fellowship and NSF funding. Prior to her PhD, she was the User Experience researcher at Piktochart. She will start a post doc position at Tokyo College upon graduation.

Spencer Carlson is a 4th year PhD student who studies how deliberation enables people learn and to solve real problems in their communities, how learning environments can teach deliberation, and how organizers can support. Prior to beginning his PhD, he was an undergraduate researcher in our lab.

Evey Huang is a first year PhD student who studies sense making in deliberation. Prior to beginning her PhD, she was a researcher at KAIST. She received her B.A. in Economics from University of California, Berkeley.

Gus Umbelino is a first year PhD student who studies collective innovation and design education. Prior to beginning his PhD, he was a research assistant at UC San Diego’s Design Lab. He received his B.A. from University of California, San Diego.

Kristine Lu is a third year PhD student who studies information design. Prior to beginning her PhD, she was a researcher at Pew Research. She received her B.A. from Columbia.

Alumni

Daniel Rees-Lewis is a post doc who studies how civic innovators learn through analogy in online learning environments. He is supported by the National Academy of Education and Spencer Foundation. Prior his PhD, he was a learning designer at Design for America and received his M.S., in Learning Sciences from Northwestern University and a B.A. from the University of Sussex.

Julie Hui is an assistant professor at University of Michigan’s School of Information.  She studies how social computing can support novice designers in online creative communities and was supported by a NSF Graduate Research Fellowship while at Northwestern.  Prior to Northwestern, she received her B.S. in Physics with a Minor in Mechanical Engineering from MIT in 2011.

Emily Harburg is the Co-Founder of Brave Initiatives and Director of Emerging Technology and Innovation at EF.  As a graduate student, she studied how social computing can motivate decision making for novice innovators through scaffolding.  She was supported by a NSF Graduate Research Fellowship while at Northwestern. Prior to Northwestern, she worked at Disney Research and received her B.A. in Anthropology from Harvard.

Mike Greenberg is a Researcher at Facebook. While at Northwestern, he studied how innovators understand and use social capital online. He was supported by a NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Prior to Northwestern, he worked as a researcher the American Museum of Natural History and received his B.S. in Physics from Brandeis.

Select Publications

2017

Hui, J., & Gerber, E., Developing Makerspaces as Sites of Entrepreneurship. In Proceedings of Computer Supported Cooperative Work, ACM Press, 2017.

Kim, Y., Shaw, A., Zhang, H. & Gerber, E., Understanding Trust amid Delays in Crowdfunding. In Proceedings of Computer Supported Cooperative Work, ACM Press, 2017.

Zhang, H., Maliakal, L., Rees-Lewis, D., Easterday, M., & Gerber, E., Agile Research Studios: Orchestrating Communities of Practice to Advance Research Training. In Proceedings of Computer Supported Cooperative Work, ACM Press, 2017.

2016

Kim, Y., Harburg, E., Azria, S., Shaw, A., Gerber, E., Gergle, D., & Zhang, H. Studying the Effects of Task Notification Policies on Participation and Outcomes in On-the-go Crowdsourcing, In Proceedings of Human Computation and Crowdsourcing, AAAI Press, 2016.

Yen, Y. Dow, S., Gerber, E., & Bailey, S. Social Network, Web Forum, or Task Market? Comparing Different Crowd Genres For Design Feedback Exchange. In Proceedings of Design of Interactive Systems, ACM Press, 2016.

Smirnov, N., Rees-Lewis, D., Easterday, M., & Gerber, E. The Benefits of SINs: Scaling Studio-Based Learning through Social Innovation Networks. In Proceedings of International Conference on Learning Sciences, 2016

Easterday, M. W.,Rees Lewis, D., & Gerber, E. M., Designing Crowdcritique systems for Formative Feedback. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, 2016

Easterday, M. W., Rees Lewis, D., & Gerber, E. M. The Products of Design Research. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 2016

2015

Hui, J., Jue, R., Glenn, A., Gerber, E., & Dow, S. Using Anonymity and Communal Efforts to Improve Quality of Crowdsourced Feedback. In Proceedings of Human Computation and Crowdsourcing, AAAI Press, 2015

Rees Lewis, D., Harburg, E., Easterday, M., and Gerber, E. Building Help-seeking Tools for Novice Designers. In Proceedings of Creativity and Cognition, ACM Press, 2015

Harburg, E., Hui, J., Greenberg, M., Gerber, E. Understanding the Effects of Crowdfunding on Entrepreneurship Self Efficacy. Proceedings of Computer Supported Cooperative Work, ACM Press, 2015

Hui, J., and Gerber, E. Crowdfunding for Science: Sharing Research with an Extended Audience. Proceedings of Computer Supported Cooperative Work, ACM Press, 2015

Easterday, M. W., Rees Lewis, D., & Gerber, E. M. The theoretical products of design research. In the 11th International Conference on Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, June 7-11, Göteborg, Switzerland, 2015

Easterday, M. W., Rees Lewis, D., & Gerber, E. M. Crowdsourcing Critique.  In CSCL Crowd 2015, a Workshop at the 11th International Conference on Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, June 7-11. Göteborg, Switzerland, 2015

Rees-Lewis, D., Gerber, E., & Easterday, M. Supporting Project Scoping: The Scoping Wheel, in Proceedings of Harvey Mudd Design Workshop IX, 2015

Gerber, E., & Easterday, M. Social Innovation Networks: Process, Model, and Outcomes, in Proceedings of Harvey Mudd Design Workshop IX, 2015

2014

Dontcheva, M., Morris, R. R., Brandt, J. R., and Gerber, E. Combining crowdsourcing and learning to improve engagement and performance. Proceedings of Conference on Human factors in Computing Systems, 2014 ACM Press

Easterday, M., Rees-Lewis, D. and Gerber, E. Design-Based Research Process: Problems, Phases, and Applications. International Conference of the Learning Sciences, 2014

Easterday, M., Rees-Lewis, D., Fitzpatrick, C. and Gerber, E. Computer Supported Novice Group Critique, Proceedings of Design of Interactive Systems 2014, ACM Press

Hui, J., Gerber, E., and Gergle, D. Understanding and Leveraging Social Networks for Crowdfunding: Opportunities and Challenges, Work in Progress, Proceedings of Design of Interactive Systems 2014, ACM Press

Hui, J., Gerber, E., and Dow, E.  Crowd Based Design Activities: Helping Students Connect with Users Online. Proceedings of Design of Interactive Systems 2014, ACM Press

Miller, R, Zhang, H., Gilbert, E., and Gerber, E.,  Pair Research: Matching People for Collaboration, Learning, and Productivity, Computer Supported Cooperative Work 2014, ACM Press

Hui, J., Greenberg, M., and Gerber, E. Understanding the Role of Community in Crowdfunding Work, Computer Supported Cooperative Work 2014, ACM Press (Best Paper Nomination)

2013

Gerber, E., and Hui, J. Crowdfunding: Motivations and Deterrents for Participation, Transactions on Human Computer Interactions, 2013

Hui, J. Greenberg, M. and Gerber, E.  Understanding Crowdfunding Work: Implications for Support Tools, Computer Human Interaction WIP 2013

Greenberg, M., Hui, J., and Gerber, E. Crowdfunding: A Resource Exchange Perspective, Computer Human Interaction WIP 2013

Greenberg, M., Hariharan, K., and Gerber, E., Pardo, B., Crowdfunding Support Tools_Predicting Success & Failure, Computer Human Interaction WIP 2013

Dow, S., Gerber, E. and Wong, A. A Pilot Study of Crowds in the Classroom, Computer Human Interaction 2013, ACM Press.

Kittur, N., Bernstein, M., Nickerson, J., Gerber, E., Shaw, A., Lease, M., Zimmerman, J., and Horton, M. Future Of Crowd Work, Computer Supported Cooperative Work 2013, ACM Press.

Gerber, E. Design for America: A Network For Students and Designers Solving Real-World Challenges, Good.is

Morris, R. Dontcheva, M., Finkelstein, A. and Gerber, E. Affect and Creative Performance On Crowdsourcing Platforms, Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction Conference, 2013

2012

Hui, J., Greenberg, M., Gerber, E. Easy Money: The Demands of Crowdfunding Work , Segal Technical Report 2012

Gerber, E. Does Crowdfunding Fail the Most Promising Entrepreneurs, The Huffington Post

Gerber, E. STEM Students Must be Taught to Fail, US News and World Report

Gerber, E., Martin, C., Braunstein, J., Kramer, E., Carberry, A. Innovation Self Efficacy: Development of A Measure, Frontiers in Education. 2012

Morris, R., Dontcheva, M., Gerber, E., Priming for Better Performance In Microtask Crowdsourcing Environments, IEEE Internet Computing, 2012

Gerber, E. & Kennedy, C. Supporting Creativity in Web-Based Services, International Journal of Design, Vol. 16 (1), 2012

Gerber, E., Olson, J., Komarek, R. Extracurricular Design Based Learning, International Journal of Engineering Education, 2012

Leonardi, P. Beyene, T. & Gerber, E. How Managers Use Multiple Media: Discrepant Events, Power, and Timing in Redundant Communication, Organization Science, 2012

Gerber, E. & Carroll, M. Psychological Experience of Prototyping, Design Studies. Vol. 33 (1), 2012

2011

Lewis, S., Dontcheva, M., & Gerber, E. Affective Computational Priming and Creativity, Proceedings of Computer Human Interaction 2011, ACM Press

Gerber, E. The Psychological Experience of User Observation, International Conference on Engineering Design 2011 Proceedings

Gerber, E. Tech Break Ups: A Research Method for Understanding People’s Attachment to Technology, Proceedings of Creativity and Cognition, ACM Press, 2011

2010

Gerber, E., McKenna, A., Hirsch, P. & Yarnoff, C., Learning to Waste – Wasting to Learn? How ot Use Cradle to Cradle Principles to Improve the Teaching of Design, International Journal of Engineering Education, 2010

Bao, P., Gerber, E., Gergle, D., Hoffman, D. Momentum Getting And Staying On Topic During A Brainstorm. Proceedings of Computer Human Interaction 2010, ACM Press

Chung, H. & Gerber, E., Emotional Storyboarding: A Participatory Method for Emotional Designing for Children, Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Design & Emotion, 2010

2009

Gerber, E., Prototyping: Facing Uncertainty Through Small Wins, Proceedings of International Conference on Engineering Design 2009

Gerber, E. Using Improvisation To Enhance the Effectiveness of Brainstorming, Proceedings of Computer Human Interaction 2009, ACM Press

2007

Gerber, E., Improvisation Principles and Techniques for Design, Proceedings of Computer Human Interaction 2007, ACM Press

2006

Gerber, E., Relations in Design Thinking: A Case Study of a Social Network. In K. Mark Weaver (Ed.), Proceedings of the Sixty-fifth Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management (CD), ISSN 1543-8643