Physical objects and their pictures are two main kinds of design stimuli of creative activity, which can improve design quality but may induce design fixation. Previous studies are focused on the case where participants face a single picture, and their design stimulus may be incomplete as compared with the participants facing objects. To fully explore the influence of physical and pictorial examples on design novices, we investigated design fixation and design quality when they were provided with multiperspective pictures having information remarkably similar to physical objects. Specifically, two novice groups individually created their own designs after observing several examples by the way of the above two presentation modes. These designs were evaluated by two evaluators in terms of similarity, originality, and completeness. Statistical analysis showed that no significant difference was found in similarity and originality between the two groups, whereas the designs of the physical group outperformed those of the pictorial group in terms of completeness. This finding indicated that the two groups showed the same degree of design fixation, as multiperspective pictures presented most of the form information of the physical object. The results suggest that when instructing design novices, it is essential to control how to present design examples at different stages of the design process.

Designers search for memories and retrieve appropriate mental information during design brainstorming. The specific contents of retrieved memories can serve as stimuli for new ideas, or act as barriers to innovation. These contents can be divided into different categories, which are reflected in designers’ creativities, and derived from individual lives and design experiences. Appropriate categorization of retrieved memory exemplars remains a fundamental research issue. This study tentatively divided retrieved memory exemplars into eight categories from brainstorming on the topic of library desk and chair design. A verification questionnaire was performed and validated the accuracy of categorization. The categorization result could be applied to design education in terms of understanding students’ design performances and capabilities.

The visualization of design cognitive process can help to understand the cognitive style of designers and analyze the causes of design ideas quality. This study aims at understanding the cognitive styles from the perspective of the semantic distance between memory-retrieved precedents and design goal. A protocol study was conducted with 26 master students majoring in industrial design. After obtaining a set of design precedents based on the design goal, the semantic distance between design precedents and design goals was analyzed through semantic network. To describe relevance of the semantic distance to cognitive processes, this study devised a new way called ‘semantic circle diagram.’ It supports intuitive interpretations of design cognitive process and output results, while visualizing the elements of different design stages. Based on semantic circle diagram, the cognitive styles of each participant were derived, and the design ideas quality generated by different cognitive styles was discussed. The results of this study provide an individualized reference for design cognitive research and design thinking education.