Cognitive Heuristics in Defining Engineering Design Problems

Studer, Jaryn A.; Yılmaz, Seval; Daly, Shanna R.; Seifert, Colleen M.

doi:10.1115/detc2016-59942

Cited by 11 publications

(10 citation statements)

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“…In pedagogy, the transfer of ideas between domains using graphic simulations can be improved by presenting problems in an abstract, idealized form (Goldstone and Sakamoto, 2003). More abstract functional representations have also been shown to be effective as stimuli in reducing cognitive fixation (Studer et al 2016) and fostering the generation of new ideas (Zahner et al, 2010;Linsey et al, 2010). Similar to the study of analogical distances, creative outcomes are examined with regard to participants' fidelity of external representation (Vasconcelos and Crilly, 2016).…”

Section: Use Of Abstract Vs Concrete Presentations and Their Impact On Ideationmentioning

confidence: 99%

How to Best Frame a Design Brief to Maximize Novelty and Usefulness in Idea Generation

Koronis

Silva

Kang

et al. 2020

Proc. Des. Soc.: Des. Conf.

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This paper aims to identify factors that influence creativity, and strives towards understanding the effect of representations, namely abstract and concrete design outcomes. Three conditions are compared; a control group, an abstract group, and a group provided with various example solutions. The implications of this work can strongly impact the formulation of design briefs, where the goal is to stimulate the creativity of design brief outcomes and examine their relationship to product awareness.

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Section: Use Of Abstract Vs Concrete Presentations and Their Impact On Ideationmentioning

confidence: 99%

How to Best Frame a Design Brief to Maximize Novelty and Usefulness in Idea Generation

Koronis

Silva

Kang

et al. 2020

Proc. Des. Soc.: Des. Conf.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Thanks to Ian Baker for his assistance with this research, and to Jaclyn Murray and several anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments. A preliminary report was presented at the 2016 IDETC conference (Studer et al , 2016). This research was funded by the National Science Foundation, Division of Undergraduate Education, Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Education and Human Resources (IUSE) Grants # 1504028 and # 1504721.…”

Section: Acknowledgementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence of problem exploration in creative designs

Studer

Daly

McKilligan

et al. 2018

AIEDAM

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Design problems are often presented as structured briefs with detailed constraints and requirements, suggesting a fixed definition. However, past studies have identified the importance of exploring design problems for creative design outcomes. Previous protocol studies of designers has shown that problems can "co-evolve" with the development of solutions during the design process. But to date, little evidence has been provided about how designers systematically explore presented problems to create better solutions. In this study, we conducted a qualitative analysis of 252 design problems collected from publically available sources, including awardwinning product designs and open-source design competitions. This database offers an independent sample of presented problems, designers' alternative problem descriptions, and innovative solutions. We report the results of this large-scale qualitative analysis aimed at characterizing changes to problems during the design process. Inductive coding was used to identify content patterns in "discovered" problem descriptions, with qualitative codes reliably scored by two independent coders. A total of 32 distinct patterns of problem exploration were identified across designers and presented problems. Each pattern is described in the form of a generalized strategy to guide designers as they explore problem spaces. The exploration patterns identified in this study are the first empirical evidence of problem exploration in independent design problems. Further, the presence of exploration patterns in discovered problems is associated with the selection of the corresponding solution as a challenge finalist. These empirically identified strategies for problem exploration may be useful for computational tools supporting designers.

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“…Research has demonstrated the benefits of implementing design tools in helping engineers succeed in each phase of the design process [68]- [71] and engineers in industry and academia may use different tools specific to their needs. For example, academic engineers typically seek out problems that match their solution expertise, so they may benefit from focusing on identifying problems and opportunities using an existing technology [72] and reframing problems to find a match between their technology and problems [73]. Additionally, academic engineers may be further trained on customer engagement and needs finding interview methods to help them identify problems through interdisciplinary collaborations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Start With Problems or Solutions? Medical Device Design in Industry and Academia

et al. 2020

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Design processes can be influenced by their practice environments. Although design processes of industry engineers have been examined in multiple research studies, few studies have investigated design processes of academic engineers. As academia and industry have different sociocultural norms and constraints, their design processes likely also differ. To examine this question, we conducted semi-structured interviews with both academic and industry engineers who had successfully designed medical devices. Our qualitative findings revealed that engineers in industry described their design process as a sequence with problem definition, solution exploration, detail design, evaluation, and communication. Academic engineers, in contrast, described their design process as beginning with a discovered solution, then searching for application problems, evaluating compatibility between problems and solution, and finally, communicating their findings through publications. Understanding differences in design processes of academic and industry engineers can facilitate knowledge sharing and promote collaboration between academia and industry. The findings also highlight the impact of sociocultural norms on practices, even in disciplines with highly trained and clearly defined processes.

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Cognitive Heuristics in Defining Engineering Design Problems

Cited by 11 publications

References 0 publications

How to Best Frame a Design Brief to Maximize Novelty and Usefulness in Idea Generation

How to Best Frame a Design Brief to Maximize Novelty and Usefulness in Idea Generation

Evidence of problem exploration in creative designs

Start With Problems or Solutions? Medical Device Design in Industry and Academia

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