Differences in thinking flexibility between novices and experts based on eye tracking

Abstract

The influence of thinking flexibility on design is often underestimated by researchers in the field of design education. In this study, morphological analysis was used as a tool to develop design proposals and eye tracking technology was applied to track the attention. The feature of thinking activities in problem-solving between two groups (novice and expert) was analyzed by Heat map and Gaze plot in qualitative, and measured by indicators such as fixation and saccade in quantitative. Findings suggested that, i) Experts showed more fixation duration and fixation numbers in thinking activities, and the attention containing more AOIs was positively related to the rationality of the scheme. ii) Saccades with greater amplitude were more beneficial to the novelty of scheme. iii) Experts considered the information of each block in a balanced way, while novices tended to ignore unimportant blocks. These results will have a far-reaching impact on the development of designers’ thinking and help novices to exercise creative thinking and produce high-quality designs.

Biometric Analysis in Design Cognition Studies: A Systematic Literature Review

“…Recent years have also witnessed its application for design cognition studies. For instance, Zhu et al [40] studied the eye movement of design experts and design novices during their design processes, and their results suggested that experts display higher fixation durations and fixation numbers during their thinking activities and that experts consider information in a more balanced manner compared to novices. Mehta et al [41] used eye-tracking to study engineering graduate students' design behaviour; their results suggested there is a smoother transition between design states for high-performing designers than for lower-performing ones.…”