Cognition Model in Conceptual Designing

Abstract

Both design researchers and cognitive scientists have developed various process models to study human creative behaviour in design. The models developed are often based on observations of design processes and analysis of design protocols. This research paper reports the-stateof- the-art in the area of cognition models that present design activities in conceptual designing. The research paper investigates the approaches of these cognition models. A new approach of a cognition activity model in conceptual designing is proposed. The new approach used in the introduced model takes into the account factors and activities that are related to the external environment of design (design medium). The external environment has an important role in the cognition activities and the evaluation process in a way that can hardly be ignored or neglected. The presented model of cognition activities in conceptual designing highlights two main factors employed in all the iteration loops of the model, namely: media use and representation. Case studies of architecture students’ designs have been analyzed. The analysis of these case studies helped in forming the proposed model. Various results have been concluded and reported.