Exploring the role of sketching on shared understanding in design

OLD Design Theory and Methodolog

Industrial design sketching for concept generation sketching: A parallel thinking process

Designers largely use freehand sketching as the one way of communicating their ideas during the design process. This research aims at investigating the sketching in the conceptual design stage and to explore what measures and procedure might be appropriate method to improve the positive influence of sketching during the design process. A quasiexperiment study has been conducted with Masters students of Industrial Design Engineering at Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands. 3 control groups and 3 experimental groups consisting of 3 students underwent a design task in a given time. Whereas the experimental groups were not allowed to talk during the design process, the control groups did not received any restrictions. The experiments were recorded, observed and analyzed. This research shall contribute to a better understanding of how sketching affects creativity and quality of the final outcome, and in how far sketching enhances the value of idea development in design for Industrial Designers.Product Innovation ManagementIndustrial Design Engineerin

How Designers Express Agreement: The role of multimodal communication in communicating agreement and reaching shared understanding during conceptual design

In this paper, we present a study on the role of verbal communication in reaching shared understanding during idea generation in design teams. More specifically, our goal is to investigate specific communication actions designers take in different communication modalities that lead to shared understanding. In order to realize this goal, we conducted a quasi-experimental with 18 participants, who designed in groups of 3. The control groups communicated freely, whereas the test groups were not allowed to use verbal communication. We identified and analyzed communication actions that represent agreement in four different modalities: gestural, verbal, graphical and textual communication. The results suggest that when verbalization is allowed, groups rely on concepts that are generated primarily by individuals, and do not negotiate the type of shared understanding that leads to the co-creation of new concepts. When verbalization is not allowed, they are more likely to build on and advance concepts that are generated by individuals to construct that type of shared understanding, and conceptualize collectively.Product Innovatie ManagementIndustrial Design Engineerin

Does sketching stand alone as a communication tool during concept generation in design teams?

The present study investigates the relation between sketching and communication in teams during the idea generation process in early concept generation. A quasi-experiment study has been conducted with Masters students of Industrial Design Engineering at Delft University of Technology, Netherlands. Six groups consisting of three students had to solve a design problem in a given time. Whereas the experimental groups (n=3) were not allowed to talk during the design process, the control groups (n=3) did not face any restrictions. The experiments were recorded, observed and analyzed. As expected, both groups used communication to transfer and support their individual ideas. For the experimental groups, the written language became the medium of communication in detailing the information of sketches. These findings show that sketching cannot stand alone; design teams need to use sketching and verbal communication in conjunction not only to produce well-developed ideas, but also to transfer them.Product Innovation ManagementIndustrial Design Engineerin

Conversations around design sketches: Use of communication channels for sharing mental models during concept generation

In this paper, we present an exploratory protocol study on the use of different communication channels during design sketching. We focus on how individual designers share their mental models with other designers in a group, and analyze their use of graphical, textual, and verbal communications during concept generation. Our findings suggest that verbal communication plays a role in the sharing of individual mental models during sketching, and complements graphical and textual communication channels. However, design teams can still function without verbal communication in that respect, and address design problems. They seem to compensate for the absence of the verbal communication channel by using the graphical and textual channels more, and by relying on a somewhat different communication structure. A natural and arguably more desirable interaction utilizes all three channels in conjunction. Our findings also suggest that, when working in groups, designers develop and share individual mental models not only about the design task at hand but also about the design process in order to manage the group interactions.Product Innovation ManagementIndustrial Design Engineerin

A framework for reaching common understanding during sketching in design teams

In this study, we investigate the communication processes during sketching in design teams on theoretical and empirical levels, and propose two frameworks. The first one, the designcommunication block framework, categorizes the types of activities that take place during sketching, and constitutes the analysis scheme for the empirical dimension of the work. The second framework, a framework for reaching common understanding during sketching in design teams, embodies the outcomes of our analysis. Our main finding is that although drawing activity itself forms the basis of team discourse during sketching, explaining, detailing and transfer activities make ideas more concrete, understandable and transferrable within the team. Our findings also show that when verbal communication is blocked, the distinction between drawing activity, and explaining, detailing and transfer activities become even clearer.Product Innovation ManagementIndustrial Design Engineerin