Crafting briefs to stimulate creativity in the design studio

Abstract

This study explored ways to construct design briefs to identify which formats best foster creativity among undergraduates in their projects. The early-stage ideas of 158 novice designers were assessed in an empirical study using a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods. Collaborative sketching and 6-3-5 method were combined to use drawings as the main form of communication during the ideation task. This was followed by a post-experimental questionnaire aimed at learning about the participants’ views on the ideation task. Our results suggest that briefs with specific numerical requirements helped students score well in appropriateness, while those including physical stimuli led to higher Usability scores but lower Novelty scores. Outcomes from the survey showed that although the presence of a visual prompt led students to believe that they were enhancing the Novelty of their designs, their final scores reflected the opposite. Because of that, educators should consider addressing students' misconceptions about how examples affect the creativity of their design solutions.