Dancing the Vibe

Abstract

Group mood, often referred to as the "vibe" of the group, plays a significant role in organizational functioning, influencing team effectiveness, performance, outcomes, and workplace well-being. Despite its importance, group mood is often elusive—easy to sense but difficult to fully understand, describe, and manage. What if teams could actively regulate their group mood to achieve shared goals? Effective management would involve fostering group moods that are beneficial to group activities while preventing or mitigating those that hinder goal achievement. Designed products, services, or interventions may potentially support groups in managing their group mood effectively. A key challenge in designing for group mood management is the lack of contextual understanding of what group mood is and how different group moods manifest. To address this gap, this thesis conceptualizes group mood as an emergent concept with unique qualities and aims to develop a nuanced understanding of group mood in work settings, beyond the basic dichotomy of 'positive versus negative.' This serves as an initial step towards effective group mood management, taking the first step towards developing a dedicated typology. Through a series of studies, this research addresses three primary questions: (1) What types of group moods are experienced in small workgroups? (2) How can group moods be effectively communicated? (3) How can group mood reflection be facilitated? The research begins with a phenomenological inquiry, identifying and describing eight distinct group moods: Chill Flow, Fiery, Creative, Safe Haven, Slack, Tense, Confrontational, and Fuzzy. To communicate these moods effectively, we developed two sets of embodied mediums using an artistic approach—the 'Vibe Image Set' and the 'Vibe Video Set.' Finally, utilizing these mediums, we designed and tested two interventions to facilitate group mood reflection in the context of group work. Our findings provide insights into mood management within small workgroups and offer entry points for future efforts to support it. We envision this thesis as a foundational step toward understanding and shaping group moods within the design domain, offering insights and starting points for future research and practice in designing for group mood management. In professional practice, our research contributions can enable and support workgroups in their efforts to communicate and manage their group moods effectively.