Innovative Solutions through Innovated Problems

Designers are accustomed to solving problems that are provided to them; in fact, common practice in engineering is to present the problem with carefully delineated and detailed constraints required for a promising solution. As a consequence, engineers focus on creating feasible solutions rather than exploring novel perspectives on the presented problems. However, the Engineer of 2020 needs to respond with innovations for multiple and dynamic user needs, diverse users and cultures, and rapidly changing technologies. These complex demands require engineering students to learn that problems are not ‘‘fixed’’ as presented, and to build the habit of exploring alternative perspectives on the stated problem. Creative innovations in problem understanding may lead directly to more innovative solutions. While previous research has documented the ‘‘co-evolution’’ of problem and solution during the design process, the present work aims to understand how designers intentionally explore variants of problems on the way to solutions. Summaries of two empirical studies provide initial evidence about how stated problems are altered within successful solutions in open design challenges, along with evidence of problem think aloud protocols. Analysis of qualitative changes in problem perspectives reveals systematic patterns, or cognitive ‘‘heuristics,’’ and these same patterns are evident as student engineers solve problems. By exploring diverse perspectives on a stated problem, engineers can incorporate innovations into both problems and solutions during the design process

Design by taking perspectives: How engineers explore problems

BackgroundProblem 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/HypothesisThe purpose of this study was to investigate systematic patterns in problem exploration in the early design phases of mechanical engineers.Design/MethodThirty‐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.ResultsThe 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.ConclusionsOur 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.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149675/1/jee20263_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149675/2/jee20263.pd

Tackling the ‘right’ problem: Investigating cognitive strategies used in understanding design problems

Looking beyond the provided or presented problem can allow new perspectives to emerge, revealing the potential for more varied and creative solutions. Current engineering and design research has primarily focused on the generation of ideas, and little research has investigated how engineering designers engage in identifying and refining problem definitions, a process called “problem exploration.” Past research has established that knowledge about how to perform problem exploration is important for improving our understanding of how presented problems turn into successful design solutions. However, existing problem exploration methods are not based on learning theory, and there is little empirical evidence about their effectiveness in education or practice. Therefore, the goal of this research is to investigate how engineering and industrial design students and practitioners explore problem spaces. The results characterize the cognitive strategies evident in finding, developing, and refining design problems. This paper presents the results of two studies on the cognitive processes engineers and designers use to explore and define problems. Overall, the results demonstrated that problem exploration is associated with making shifts in design decisions. The first study focused on problem exploration strategies used by engineering and design practitioners through a content analysis of problem statements from web-based design competitions calling for novel solutions. The analysis resulted in an initial set of problem exploration strategies, or cognitive heuristics, extracted from the submitted solutions. The results also demonstrated that a single presented problem can be redefined by designers in a number of different ways. The second study examined individual cognitive processes through a think-aloud protocol study of five engineering design students (senior and graduate level) as they explored presented problems. The results of this study provided a more in-depth look at the problem exploration process, and demonstrated that while common problem exploration heuristics emerged, each engineer displayed a distinct way of looking at the problem. These results will support the development of instructional materials for dissemination in both educational and practice settings in order to assist students, educators, and practitioners in their problem exploration processes. The project findings will help to better prepare designers and engineers to develop problem descriptions that represent core needs, and to frame them in ways that facilitate innovative solutions, ultimately resulting in solutions that address the real problems of the 21st Century.</p

Evidence of problem exploration in creative designs

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 howdesigners 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 award-winning 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.This article is published as Studer JA, Daly SR, McKilligan S, Seifert CM (2018). Evidence of problem exploration in creative designs. Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design, Analysis and Manufacturing 32, 415–430. Doi: 10.1017/S0890060418000124. Posted with permission.</p

Innovative Solutions through Innovated Problems

Designers are accustomed to solving problems that are provided to them; in fact, common practice in engineering is to present the problem with carefully delineated and detailed constraints required for a promising solution. As a consequence, engineers focus on creating feasible solutions rather than exploring novel perspectives on the presented problems. However, the Engineer of 2020 needs to respond with innovations for multiple and dynamic user needs, diverse users and cultures, and rapidly changing technologies. These complex demands require engineering students to learn that problems are not ‘‘fixed’’ as presented, and to build the habit of exploring alternative perspectives on the stated problem. Creative innovations in problem understanding may lead directly to more innovative solutions. While previous research has documented the ‘‘co-evolution’’ of problem and solution during the design process, the present work aims to understand how designers intentionally explore variants of problems on the way to solutions. Summaries of two empirical studies provide initial evidence about how stated problems are altered within successful solutions in open design challenges, along with evidence of problem think aloud protocols. Analysis of qualitative changes in problem perspectives reveals systematic patterns, or cognitive ‘‘heuristics,’’ and these same patterns are evident as student engineers solve problems. By exploring diverse perspectives on a stated problem, engineers can incorporate innovations into both problems and solutions during the design process.This article is published as Daly, S.R., McKilligan, S., Studer, J.A., Murray, J.K., Seifert, C.M., Innovative Solutions through Innovated Problems. International Journal of Engineering Education; 2018 Vol. 34, No. 2(B), pp. 695–707. Posted with permission. </p

Design by taking perspectives: How engineers explore problems

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.This article is published as Murray, J.K., Studer, J.A., Daly, S.R., Mckilligan, S., Seifert, C.M., Design by taking perspectives: How engineers explore problems. Journal of Engineering Education. 2019, 108(2);248-275. doi: 10.1002/jee.20263. </p