Jansson and Smith (1991, "Design Fixation," Des. Stud., 12(1), pp. 3-11) demonstrated that design fixation occurs when an example solution is provided along with a design problem. After seeing an example concept-even with its flaws pointed out-new designs often share its features. In Jansson and Smith's studies, a control group saw no example and showed less fixation to the example provided only in the other group. However, another source of fixation from an initial example may arise in the control group from the designer's own first-generated concept. We conducted a large-scale experiment with beginning engineers to investigate whether design fixation occurs even without seeing a provided example. Half of the participants saw an example solution and half were given no example; instead, they generated their own initial design. Next, all students were individually brainstormed ideas for 30 min. We analyzed both groups' concepts for fixation on the first solution they saw-either the example provided or their own initial concept. The results showed that the students provided with an example concept experienced less fixation on the initial example than those in the control group, whose concepts were evaluated for similarity to their own initial concept. To consider whether fixation on initial examples (provided or self-generated) might be mitigated, we asked these students to complete a second (30 min) idea generation phase using Design Heuristics for idea inspiration. The results showed that both groups experienced less fixation during the second-generation phase. These findings suggest that fixation on first solutions occurs in individual idea generation arising from both provided examples and self-generated concepts. However, more divergent idea generation can be facilitated through the use of design tools, such as Design Heuristics, to mitigate the consequences of design fixation.

Set amidst the backdrop of concerns related to entry of students to Science, Technology,

Idea development in the early phases of the design process often involves the transformation of initial concepts into more feasible alternatives. However, this important component of design activity is often underemphasized in design education, and tools to facilitate iteration of designs are limited. This study investigated Design Heuristics as a tool for the further development of initial concepts created by student designers. In a single session, advanced engineering students created initial concepts, and then used Design Heuristics to transform these concepts into alternative designs. The concept sets generated were analyzed, and eight types of transformations were identified, including the enhancement of aesthetics, features, functions, settings, materials, sizes, organizations, and usability. Design Heuristics supported students' concept development by providing specific suggestions about ways to iterate on their initial concepts. As a result, students explored alternative concepts by producing multiple transformations of their designs, and were more likely to select these transformed concepts as their most creative, unique, and favourite designs.

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