Understanding the Roles of sketching in product design

Sketching is an essential part of the tradition and practice of design. However, despite the extensive literature on the subject, the roles of sketching in the design are still not fully understood. Therefore, this PhD study was carried out to understand the roles of sketching in the product design field and to develop the means to support the design sketching process. Hypotheses emerged from the review of the literature and led to three descriptive studies: a pilot study to identify the roles of sketching in design; a survey of design students; a survey of design professionals. Data collected from these studies were used to test and verify the hypotheses. It was found that the major roles of sketching in design were related to design ideation and design communication. The comparison between design students and professionals showed that they tend to perceive the major roles of sketching differently, but shared similar opinions on the major roles of talking sketches, sketching expertise and as a practical supporting tool. In addition, an Ideation Segment Model was proposed, which describes the process that sketching ideas evolve into final design outcomes and locates the potential supporting tools in the sketching process. Consequently, a practical supporting tool was developed to enhance understanding of design sketching, to provide external stimuli, and to improve sketching expertise. The supporting tool, entitled the PD-Sketching Primer and PD-Sketching Toolkit, was tested with education and positive feedback was received. This research has contributed towards understanding the roles of sketching in design, e.g. it is the first empirical study of ‘non-working sketches’ in the design field. It has generated new knowledge and tools to support the design sketching process. This supporting tool is one of only a few resources designed to support sketching activity and creative performance in the product design field.Open Acces

Improving the Usability of Interactive Systems by Incorporating Design Thinking into the Engineering Process: Raising Computer Science Students’ Awareness of Quality versus Quantity in Ideation

acceptedVersio

Sketching as a support mechanism for the design and development of shape-changing interfaces

Shape-changing interfaces are a novel computational technology which incorporate physical, tangible, and dynamic surfaces to create a true 3-Dimensional experience. As is often the case with other novel hardware, the current research focus is on iterative hardware design, with devices taking many years to reach potential markets. Whilst the drive to develop novel hardware is vital, this usually occurs without consultation of end-users. Due to the prototypical nature of shape-change, there is no specific current practice of User-Centred Design (UCD). If this is not addressed, the resulting field may consist of undirected, research-focused hardware with little real world value to users. Therefore, the goal of this thesis is to develop an approach to inform the direction of shape-change research, which uses simple, accessible tools and techniques to connect researcher and user. I propose the development of an anticipatory, pre-UCD methodology to frame the field. Sketching is an established methodology. It is also accessible, universal, and provides us with a low-fidelity tool-kit. I therefore propose an exploration of how sketching can support the design and development of shape-changing interfaces. The challenge is approached over five stages: 1) Analysing and categorising shape-changing prototypes to provide the first comprehensive overview of the field; 2) Conducting a systematic review of sketching and HCI research to validate merging sketching, and its associated UCD techniques with highly technological computing research; 3) Using these techniques to explore if non-expert, potential end-users can ideate applications for shape change; 4) Investigating how researchers can utilise subjective sketching for shape-change; 5) Building on ideation and subjective sketching to gather detailed, sketched data from non-expert users with which to generate requirements and models for shape-change. To conclude, I discuss the dialogue between researcher and user, and show how sketching can bring these groups together to inform and elucidate research in this area

Design Ideation: The Conceptual Sketch in a Digital Design Culture

Design ideation, or the generating and developing of design ideas is central to designing in both education and practice. But what is the impact of digital technology on conceptual tools, notably the traditional pen and paper sketch? Initial research, in the Introduction highlights how freehand drawing is under pressure from digital technology both in design schools and industry yet educators and practitioners alike seem uncertain how best to deal with the digital challenge. The Literature review, in which the investigation is likened to a sprawling rhizome, covers both practical and philosophical concerns about conceptual tools thereby extending the notion of sketching beyond pen and paper, to what is called sketcherly ways of designing. To find out how to capture designers' use of conceptual tools, the spectrum of Design methodology was explored in which the case study method combined with protocol study emerged as the research strategy to be tested in a Pilot study. The pilot outcome set the scene for a protocol study with first-year design students which, through a series of Ideation workshops, illuminates how sketching together with verbalisation is a powerful combination for conceptualisation. In this, the workshop format emerged as an effective means for encouraging novice designers to develop ideation skills. The pilot was also instrumental for conducting a Multiple case study comprising five second year design students and five recent design graduates working in industry in the domains of fashion, architecture, graphics, product and general design. Using self-reporting and interviews the cases illuminate real uses of conceptual tools situated in everyday designing that reveal the multifaceted yet unpredictable character of ideation. The Summary and Conclusion discuss the future role of the conceptual sketch in digital design environments and suggest how scholarship in the context of teaching and learning design can bridge the worlds of design schools and professional practice. In this, computer-aided ideation, CAI, emerged as a promising research field

Room for chaos? : authenticity and performance in undergraduate spatial design students’ accounts of ideational work

A thesis submitted to the University of Bedfordshire, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Professional DoctorateThis study was prompted by my suspicion that spatial design undergraduates’ production of paper-based freehand sketches during design ideation was in decline. Seeking to find out why, I conducted video-recorded focused interviews with undergraduates from a range of UK spatial design degrees, during which we examined their sketchbook material and discussed their ideational activities (termed ‘ideational moves’). I subjected the data to a form of content analysis, but the outcomes appeared to contradict my initial premise whilst revealing that the interactions during the interviews between myself, the respondents and the sketchbook material (termed ‘discursive moves’) warranted examination. This persuaded me that the study’s focus should emerge through ‘evolved’ grounded theory rather than being stated a priori, which highlighted my presence in, and impact on, the data and prompted me to adopt a constructivist grounded theorising approach in combination with actor-network theory’s concepts of translation and circulating references. This study has thus been qualitative, relativist, iterative and multi-modal. Grounded theorising led to the identification of a number of categories and sub-categories of ideational move across the sample, and indicated that the respondents had used a ‘core’ of each. ‘Core’ categories comprised: making paper-based ideational moves, carrying out research and using photographic material. Several respondents also evidenced producing digital imagery and physical models. ‘Core’ sub-categories comprised using paper-based freehand perspective sketches, sketch diagrams and word-based approaches, plus supporting visuo-spatial research. Several respondents also evidenced producing paper-based freehand plan, section and elevation sketches, plus collage. Grounded theorising also revealed that each respondent had utilised a different combination of sub-categories, with different degrees of connectedness. I did not set out to evaluate the design outcomes showcased, but, as a spatial design academic and practitioner, I felt compelled to. This led to the tentative conclusion that respondents who added to the ‘core’ of categories and sub-categories and worked with greater connectedness appeared to produce more thoroughly-considered work, whilst those who forsook the ‘core’ and worked with less connectedness appeared to produce more unexpected results by allowing ‘…room for chaos…’: periods of confusion and surprise. Regarding the discursive moves, grounded theorising indicated that the sketchbook material tabled by each respondent during the study was not one fixed thing, but an abstraction using placing-for and directing-to techniques to focus attention on certain ideational moves and away from others. This made the sketchbook material a performance within the network of human and non-human actors who, in effect, co-constructed it as a temporary reality without necessarily realising this. Research into sketchbook material appears to regard it, once shared with others, as having the candour of a secret diary, and as eligible for formative and summative assessment because it documents design process authentically. My study, whilst not claiming generalisability, suggests that this view should be challenged. The new knowledge is now informing my future teaching practice and will, I hope, prompt other academics to investigate whether their own students manifest similar outcomes and, through this, contribute to wider discussions on the formative and summative assessment of undergraduate spatial design development activity

Back to the drawing board? : exploring process drawing and pathways to drawing participation in higher education for graphic design students

“I can’t draw”. “Idon’tdraw.” While facilitating my first brainstorming session with undergraduate Visual Communication, Designstudents at Western Sydney University (WSU), I was struck by the absence of any drawing activity in the classroom. Technological innovations have significantly reduced the role of drawing in the design process since the mid-eighties; however, research confirms sketching, or indeed any form of hand-eye coordination provides valuable cognitive and communication functions in the creative process. The ambiguous nature of a freehand sketch allows for creative interpretation, encourages ‘fluency’ and iteration, and provides a ‘thinking trail’ for evaluation. The physical act of drawing can also aid concentration and memory. Many professional designers recognise process drawing as a vital ingredient in their creative thinking processes and those of new graduates. Through a literature review and reflection on my creative practices, this thesis identifies the benefits of process drawing to think, create, communicate and collaboratein the design process. So, if drawing is so useful, why don’t design students use rough sketches and thumbnails in the classroom?Through a practice-led enquiry, I reflect on observations made as both “insider” and “outsider” within my communities of practice. As a professional design practitioner, visual artist, teacher and researcher, I investigate the role and value of process drawing in the twenty-first-century classroom.The attitudes, behaviours and ‘designerly’practices of WSU design students are explored through a multiple-choiceWhy draw?questionnaireconducted over six years.The interviews and group discussions with final-year, high achievingWSU designstudents help clarify the creative thinking practicesof these participants and identify possible barriers to wider drawing participation. The observations,interpretation of theliterature and questionnaire and interview findings underpin the studio exploration into possible pathways to foster drawing participationin the classroom. ASpeed Squigglingactivity was designed to demonstrate the value of drawing and to encouragedivergent thinking, iteration, creative flow, and design thinking skills. APre-and Post-Why draw?questionnaire was collected from second-year WSU Design students before and after theSpeed Squigglingtrial. An analysis of students’ written and visual responses explores the effectiveness of this kind of drawing activity to encourage and foster drawing participation.Back to the drawing board?adds to the critical discourse in drawing research and design education that argues process drawing has an important role to play in the twenty-first century classroom and should continue to be clarified, demonstrated and encouraged in design education

IDATER online conference: graphicacy and modelling 2010

IDATER online conference: graphicacy and modelling 201

Developing and Evaluating Visual Analogies to Support Insight and Creative Problem Solving

The primary aim of this thesis is to gain a richer understanding of visual analogies for insight problem solving, and, in particular, how they can be better developed to ensure their effectiveness as hints. While much work has explored the role of visual analogies in problem solving and their facilitative role, only a few studies have analysed how they could be designed. This thesis employs a mixed method consisting of a practice-led approach for studying how visual analogies can be designed and developed and an experimental research approach for testing their effectiveness as hints for solving visual insight problems

Computer-based sketching and the productivity of the conceptual stage of design

Many designers find computer-based tools are not as effective during the early stages of design as manual sketching. However, to abandon the computer in these conceptual stages denies designers the computer‟s capability to translate and supplement imaginative design thinking. Recent design studies address conceptual design. What is the impact of computer-based drawing and sketching on designers‟ cognition and productive reasoning? This research focuses on the relationship between the characteristics of sketching using the drawing environment of the computer and the productivity of the conceptual design phase. I provide a theoretical framework that identifies and clarifies both sketching and productivity. Previous specialized studies are selective and sometimes only descriptive in defining this relationship. A review of these studies reveals a gap in our understanding of those aspects of sketching that relate to visualization, imagination and the generation of design ideas. The thesis addresses three objectives: (i) to build a comprehensive theoretical framework that on one hand defines the characteristics of sketching that might affect the generation of design ideas, and on the other hand defines the productivity of conceptual design and its indicators; (ii) to apply this framework in a practical study; and (iii) to extract implications for the relationship. To address the problem of computer-based sketching, I indentify the continuity within the dynamic field of images usually generated while designers sketch as the most effective characteristic of the computer sketching process. I establish a measure of continuity defined by (i) the degree of ease in projecting design images, (ii) the degree of continuity of displaying images due to changing the status of the design objects and due to navigation around the objects, (iii) the degree of provision of a holistic view (i.e., the total view of the design objects on the computer screen). Then I define productivity within this framework in terms of the cognitive operations of dialogical reinterpretation. When sketching, designers seem to perform key operations such as interpreting, reframing and restructuring. I present the case that a process rich with these cognitive operations is productive. The study makes use of the fields of free hand sketching, literature, cognitive psychology and Gestalt theory. Four indicators emerge from this study: the occurrence of pattern discovery, conceptual reinterpretation, alternation of thinking, and restructuring. I identify key variables that define the degree of continuity of the dynamic field of images which relate to designer‟s performance to verify their relationship with productivity. I study ten design participants who are given a design task that involves sketching with various CAD systems. The study involves 21 hours of recorded video analyzed using a method adapted from Goldschmidt's “linkography” tool for representing design protocols. I identify where patterns of relationships between variables exist, and where they do not apply. Not all the selected variables of continuity of the dynamic field of images, nor all the indicators of productivity in the conceptual design phase, support these patterns of relationships. This indicates that there is a special group of characteristics of sketching that maintain the pace of continuity within the dynamic field of images can improve the productivity in the conceptual phase

Development of a computer mediated multidisciplinary design protocol and its application to the early architectural design stages.

Effective multidisciplinary design collaboration and increased effort during the feasibility and early design stages in architecture provide the greatest potential for added value and overall success of a built environment project, from the initial design to construction and operation of a building. This can be facilitated, supported and promoted through human-computer interactions technologies that allow the integration of physical and digital realms. The aim of the thesis is to investigate the concept design processes assisted by computer mediation for bridging smoothly the pre Building Information Modelling stages and the concept development with the more advanced design stages in an efficient and effective way. For that purpose, an extensive literature review and a number of interviews with senior practitioners of the Architecture, Construction and Engineering industry assisted in clearly identifying the design workflow problems and drivers. Furthermore, concept design processes have been investigated and analysed and a Conceptual Design Stages Protocol was developed to guide design teams through the feasibility stages. The Protocol was further supported by an Information Technology environment for concept design; a design software applicable to a Tangible User Interface has been developed for benefitting multidisciplinary design teams from the haptic and visual experience, which is substantial for externalising, communicating and sharing ideas among them. Three different multidisciplinary studies were undertaken that tested both the current paradigm of concept stages and the proposed Conceptual Design Stages Protocol together with the computational design tool. Based on these results a number of conclusions were drawn, with the most important ones being the promotion of cognitive and conceptual activities due to the organised approach supported from the Conceptual Design Stages Protocol, the maturity of the concept ideas owning to the multidisciplinary approach and the importance of technology for promoting collaborative design and bridging different professional viewpoints. Overall, the research provided a deep understanding of the concept stage design processes and the effect of technology on design activities and it contributed in providing an enabling context for pre Building Information Modelling collaboration; hence, the research has the potential to improve the final design solutions for buildings, by making it possible for multidisciplinary teams to work collaboratively and to involve stakeholders more effectively at the early stages of the design process