Design by taking perspectives: How engineers explore problems

Abstract

Background Problem exploration includes identifying, framing, and defining design problems and bounding problem spaces. Intentional and unintentional changes in problem understanding naturally occur as designers explore design problems to create solutions. Through problem exploration, new perspectives on the problem can emerge along with new and diverse ideas for solutions. By considering multiple problem perspectives varying in scope and focus, designers position themselves to increase their understandings of the “real” problem and engage in more diverse idea generation processes leading to an increasing variety of potential solutions. Purpose/Hypothesis The purpose of this study was to investigate systematic patterns in problem exploration in the early design phases of mechanical engineers. Design/Method Thirty‐five senior undergraduate students and experienced designers with mechanical engineering backgrounds worked individually following a think‐aloud protocol. They explored problems and generated solutions for two of four randomly assigned design problems. After generating solutions, participants framed and rewrote problem statements to reflect their perspectives on the design problem their solutions addressed. Thematic analysis and a priori codes guided the identification of problem exploration patterns within and across problems. Results The set of patterns in engineers' problem exploration that emerged from the analysis documents alternative strategies in exploring problems to arrive at solutions. The results provide evidence that engineering designers, working individually, apply both problem‐specific and more general strategies to explore design problems. Conclusions Our study identified common patterns in the explorations of presented problems by individual engineering designers. The observed patterns, described as Problem Exploration Perspectives, capture alternative approaches to discovering problems and taking multiple problem perspectives during design. Learning about Problem Exploration Perspectives may be helpful in creating alternative perspectives on a design problem, potentially leading to more varied and innovative solutions. This paper concludes with an extended example illustrating the process of applying Problem Exploration Perspectives to move between problem perspectives to generate varied design outcomes.

A novel systematic approach for analysing exploratory design ideation

“…As discussed in Hay et al (2017), there is a need for larger-scale, quantitative experiments in design to build upon small-scale, qualitative studies. AEDI can contribute to addressing this challenge in the context of exploratory ideation, where research topics include the nature of exploration patterns (Murray et al 2019) and their link with solution novelty (Finke, Ward, and Smith 1992) and other attributes of design outcomes (Studer et al 2018). We used AEDI in an fMRI study of professional product design engineers, where an output-based analysis approach was necessitated by constraints on verbalisation and physical behaviour inside the MRI scanner.…”

“…For instance: a waste monitoring system (S) to discourage people from creating waste (P); a composting system (S) to facilitate waste recycling (P); and single-portion food packaging (S) to discourage excessive food purchases (P). This may be termed exploratory ideation, and is particularly associated with the early, creative stages of conceptual design (Dorst and Cross 2001;Murray et al 2019) where the problem tends to be fuzzy and abstract (Gero and McNeill 1998;Suwa, Gero, and Purcell 2000).…”

The future of design cognition analysis

“…Whilst proponents of problem solving view designing as a search process transforming knowledge to address a fixed problem, the reflective paradigm offers a different perspective. Here, design problems and solutions are subject to reinterpretation and reformulation in a process shaped by the design context (Gero 1990;Lloyd & Scott 1994;Dorst & Dijkhuis 1995;Murray et al 2019). Most recently, the 1990s-2000s have seen designing formalized as a situated, exploratory, and evolutionary process by Goldschmidt (1991), Maher et al (1996), Gero & Kannengiesser (2004) and others.…”

Enhancement of Engineering Education by Incorporating Active Learning Methodologies

“…The study found that gender sensitivity was not much at the undergraduate level, whereas gender-based exclusion and discrimination was significant at the Master level. Systematic patterns in problem exploration in the early design phases of mechanical engineers were investigated by assigning design tasks to both students at various levels of undergraduate mechanical engineering studies and working mechanical engineers (Murray et al, 2019). The participants approached the real-world design…”