Impromptu Prototyping and Artefacting: Representing Design Ideas through Things at Hand, Actions, and Talk

Abstract

Design offices have always been littered with physical artefacts, including components, prototypes and models, as well as drawings and various paper-based design objects. Radcliffe and Harrison (1994) noted that physical artefacts, including existing products and prototypes, are an important part of the design environment in a small manufacturing company. Product development involves numerous movements across the boundary between physical artefacts and abstract representations, including drawings, sketches and lists. Notwithstanding the evolution of the CAD (computer-aided design) systems and the promise of virtual design tools (e.g., Krovi et al. 1997; Furlong 1997), physical objects continue to have a place in the contemporary design office. However, relatively few empirical studies have focused on the role of artefacts in engineering design.