Describing the creative design process by the integration of engineering design and cognitive psychology literature (original) (raw)
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This article proposes a new descriptive framework, which we label as the "ideation framework" (IF), of the design process from a dual cognitive-engineering perspective, partly based on existing frameworks from both fields and previous work by the author. The framework is for the ideation or front-end phase of the product development process, representing the interface between cognitive psychology and engineering design. Three domains -inspiration, decomposition, and integration -and three spaces -problem-space, idea-space, and concept-space -are the elements of the framework. The iterative flow of the engineering design process passes through the three domains in a semi-controlled way, through a sequence of specialization and generalization process loops in and between the spaces. An empirical descriptive examination of the ideation process is performed using designers with limited design experience. The designers were faced with a design problem that they had to solve in a limited period of time. Their designs were analyzed, and a post-exercise interview was done to uncover each of the participants' design process. The empirical work indicates these designers worked in a manner largely consistent with the IF.
Creativity in the engineering design process
2007
It is accepted that innovation is key to any company's long term success. Despite this there are few published engineering design processes with the inclusion, mention or consideration of the creative process. With a strong body of research from the social sciences based upon the different creative processes, it is argued that engineering design research should embrace these processes in order to effectively adopt the tools, methods and techniques that have been developed around them. In this paper it is argued that the design process and the creative process are not synonymous, but it instead will consider creativity as an essential element in designing [1]. Over 100 different design and creative processes have been analysed and considered in total, 42 of which have been tabulated for comparative purposes within this paper. The linear style in which the majority of the process models are presented enabled easy comparison of the terminology. By extracting the key phases from both types of process, a descriptive process model is proposed describing creative process as a cyclical subset of the engineering design process. The overall purpose of this paper is to identify where and when in the process of design does creativity occur.
The Appearance of Creative Behaviour in Later Stage Design Processes
International Journal of Design Creativity and Innovation; 2(1): 1-19, 2014
Creativity is widely seen as an important subject in the study of the engineering design process. Through analysis using a previously presented framework and coding scheme, this paper presents two studies on creative designer behaviour within later design stages. Through the studies, one being longitudinal and the other a laboratory experiment, two creative approaches have been identified based on whether designers are more often creative when developing the knowledge and variables available for the design, or the design output itself. This individual difference correlates significantly with the designers’ creative style as measured by an independent creative style test. This data demonstrates the variation in designer behaviour that appears even when completing identical tasks. By understanding the creative behaviour and approaches followed by designers, it will be possible to develop specific and particularly appropriate methods of designer support, dependent on the stage of the design process and particular approach of the designer. DOI: 10.1080/21650349.2013.819607
How can this creative process be applied to the design process? Often people present linear, inter-linking, cyclic structures of the design process without giving much detail about each stage. If there is no common understanding, the design process would be interpretated differently and in some cases wrongly. At the end of the day, students are the ones who suffer. This paper would attempt to address the contents of the design process so that our students would be more creative than before.
The appearance of creative behavior in later stage design processes
Creativity is widely seen as an important subject in the study of the engineering design process. Through analysis using a previously presented framework and coding scheme, this paper presents two studies on creative designer behaviour within later design stages. Through the studies, one being longitudinal and the other a laboratory experiment, two creative approaches have been identified based on whether designers are more often creative when developing the knowledge and variables available for the design, or the design output itself. This individual difference correlates significantly with the designers' creative style as measured by an independent creative style test. This data demonstrates the variation in designer behaviour that appears even when completing identical tasks. By understanding the creative behaviour and approaches followed by designers, it will be possible to develop specific and particularly appropriate methods of designer support, dependent on the stage of the design process and particular approach of the designer.
Analysing Creative Behaviour in the Later Stage Design Process
Design Studies 34(5): pp. 543-574, 2013
Creativity is widely seen as an important subject in the study of engineering design. This paper presents a framework and coding scheme for the analysis of creative designer behaviour within the later stage engineering design process, validated through a longitudinal study. By classifying the tasks that designers complete throughout the design process, analysis has demonstrated two different approaches to creative behaviour in later stage design, dependent on the way in which designers identify, develop and use knowledge and design variables. Through such analysis, the understanding required to develop specific and particularly appropriate methods of designer support can be developed, dependent on the stage of the design process and particular approach of the designer. DOI: 10.1016/j.destud.2013.03.001
A generic model for creativity and innovation: overview for early phases of engineering design
This paper explores how 'creativity' and 'innovation' are most usefully modelled for the modern design context invariably consisting of conflicting technical, economical, organisational and social demands. Section 2 summarises the experiences and observations of engineers and the most comprehensive theories of creativity and innovation proposed by psychologists and educators, which set the stage for a generic model. Section 3 evaluates and synthesises the scope and use of over 100 commercially available tools to enhance creativity and innovation. We place this in the context of the 'processes of creating' outlined in the psychological literature as well as those generally accepted to lead to internationally competitive outcomes in engineering, business, sociology and literature, among others. The series of tables defines a preliminary Taxonomy of Tools to enable potential users to clarify how and where additional information or help should be solicited, to streamline any stage of engineering design. Section 4 elucidates a 'process of creating' as a generic model, which illustrates how contradictory input data become novel outcomes in processes that co-evolve the bodies of knowledge on both sides of a problem-solution equation. The model, in contrast to previous theories, is not vague -apparent contradictions between design demands can be resolved in precise steps, as long as the starting point of all actors/stakeholders is made coincident.
A descriptive framework of the design process from a dual cognitive-engineering perspective
International Journal of Design Creativity and Innovation, 2014
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Beyond the Concept: Characterisations of Later-stage Creative Behaviour in Design
As a mechanism through which better solutions are developed, creativity is well-recognised as an important part of the engineering design process, but has to date largely only been studied in general or in early design process stages. This paper aims to study the occurrence of creative behaviour in engineering design with a particular focus on the later design process stages. Through the application of a detailed coding scheme to two studies of engineers' work, this paper identifies patterns in creative behaviour through the design process stages, creative approaches employed by engineers, typical types of creative task, and fundamental differences within creative behaviour between early and late stage design. This understanding is then used to form ten characterisations of engineer behaviour within late stage design, early stage design, and throughout the design process. These characterisations can be used to direct future research, and to improve the design process and output through development of specific, effective design support methods, selected to be appropriate to the design stage and type of creative behaviour that occurs within.
Future Directions for Design Creativity Research
Design Creativity 2010, 2011
This paper commences with a brief overview of where the creativity may lie in the enterprise of designing artifacts. It puts forward the concept that design creativity is not a unitary concept and needs to be treated multi-dimensionally by stating that design creativity may be in multiple locations. The paper then proceeds to present a brief overview of what has been researched and how it is has been researched. It classifies what has been researched under: design processes, cognitive behavior and interactions. This is followed by the articulation of future directions for design creativity research in the areas of: design processes; cognitive behavior, social interaction; cognitive neuroscience; measuring design creativity and test suites of design tasks.