RiCE Workshop

• Venue: In-person at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London.
• Submission Deadline: Tuesday 12 ^th May, 2026, 23:59 AoE
• Notifications: Tuesday 19 ^th May, 2026, 23:59 AoE
• Workshop Date: Monday 13 ^th July, 2026

Reflection and metacognition are central to the creative user experience. However, most HCI research on reflection focuses on clear, task-oriented goals such as to reflect on personal data or pedagogical outcomes. These contrast with the goals of creative user experiences which are open-ended and can be challenging to articulate. This workshop raises question on: how best to capture reflection in creative contexts, how to leverage the arts to support reflection for ethical change, and how to design creative AI that enhances - not hinders - critical thinking.

To examine reflection in creative interaction, we invite submissions from researchers, designers, educators, and artists across disciplines, including HCI, Cognitive Science, Design, AI, Learning Sciences, and Digital Art to discuss reflection in creative interaction. The main themes are listed below.

The proposed schedule for the workshop is shown below.

All times are displayed in the workshop's time zone (London, UK).

Keywords: #firstperson, #autoethnography, #soma-somatic, #flow, #reflection-in-action, #microphenomenology, #ecologicalvalidity, #think-aloud

Methods used to study reflection are essential to better understand what people do and why they do it, how people reflect and what benefit it brings, and what types of reflection, and reflection capture methods, help users. Methods such as retrospective think-alouds, soma-somatic practices, microphenomenology, and first-person accounts can unravel reflections but present unique challenges in creative interaction contexts.

• How can retrospective techniques capture people's in-the-moment reflection?
• How can in-the-moment approaches such as the think-aloud technique avoid interrupting creative flow and worsening ecological validity?
• Which techniques best suit different creative domains?
• What techniques best suit different reasons for engaging in reflection?

Keywords: #creativitysupporttools, #processvisualisation, #dataphysicalisation, #creativeintentions

Beyond using reflection to study creative practice and reflection's role in creative practice, HCI researchers have been interested in developing tools to support reflection in creative practice. Reflective Creativity Support Tools (CSTs) and Data Physicalisations have supported people in documenting their creative process for post-hoc reflection and can show new perspectives on creative practice and its outputs for people to reflect upon. However...

• How can we ensure users document key moments without interrupting creative flow?
• How do we ensure that users are motivated to reflect on the collected data?
• How can novel visualisations based on metrics relate to broader creative intentions that are hard to articulate?
• How can CSTs best help artistic intentions be articulated for reflection?

Keywords: #AI, #LLM, #reflectiveai, #human-AIco-creativity, #human-centredAI, #creativeagency, #cognitivealignment

AI models that respond to complex, open-ended, and multimodal inputs at scale bring forth unique opportunities and challenges for supporting creative practitioners' reflective thinking. Concerns persist regarding the potential negative cognitive effects of AI use. For instance, there is a cognitive process mismatch between creators and LLMs: LLMs typically operate through direct, goal-directed reasoning whereas creative practice is inherently non-linear and characterised by loosely defined intentions.

• How can creators contend with the cognitive mismatch between LLMs and their own thinking?
• Can structure be implemented in LLMs to scaffold creative reflection without impacting characteristics of the creative user experience?
• Will creators retain the opportunity to reflect on surprises and follow tangents within an AI's constraints?
• Will creators feelings of agency and creative intent be preserved when working with reflective AI scaffolds?

Keywords: #ethics, #positionality, #inclusivity, #wellbeing, #environment, #socialjustice, #transformativepractice

Creative HCI has a unique opportunity to foster ethical reflection on critical issues surrounding the use of digital technologies and concerns over equity, inclusivity, and fairness. Artists have always been at the forefront of raising awareness, and sparking debate on, global and ethical issues. HCI research has been shown to encourage reflection on ethical issues surrounding the metaverse, on positional-reflexivity and on improving personal well-being. However, designers should take care to not cause unintended harm as reflection can inadvertently evoke feelings of judgement and negative thought patterns, especially with creative users.

• How can CST researchers and designers leverage the arts to scaffold reflection that is redemptive and does not perpetuate a cycle of rumination?
• How can reflexivity be integrated into arts-led research (such as design) without seeming performative?

You are welcome to come and attend the workshop as a participant! To do so, register for the ACM Creativity & Cognition conference and include the add-on fee for the RiCE workshop at checkout (here).

• Corey Ford (Chair), University of the Arts London, London, UK
• Olga Sutskova, University of the Arts London, London, UK
• Samuel Rhys Cox, Aalborg University, Denmark
• Sarah Sterman, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, USA
• Max Kreminski, Cornell Tech, New York, USA
• Rosa Van Koningsbruggen, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Weimar, Germany
• Anqi Wang, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
• Ege Otenen, Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana, USA
• Karly Ross, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
• Giulia Di Fede, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy
• Yinmiao Li, Northwestern University, Illinois, USA
• Salvatore Andolina, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy
• Marit Bentvelzen, Utrecht, The Netherlands
• Pan Hui, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) Guangzhou, China / Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
• Nick Bryan-Kinns, University of the Arts London, London, UK

If you have any questions please email Corey Ford at: c.ford@arts.ac.uk .