Problem Restructuring as a Key to a New Solution Space: A Sample Project in the Field of Toy Design for Disabled Children

Abstract

Designers often tend to fixate on problem representations that have been constructed by previous designers to solve similar problems. As a result, new solutions are sought within the same solution space as the old ones and original designs are blocked. In order to avoid such fixation effects designers must (try to) redefine the problem by, for instance, changing the perspective towards the problem structure. A practical design project is described in which this approach was successfully applied. In this project the problem of designing toys for physically disabled children was looked upon from a different viewpoint to overcome the limitations of existing toys in this field. Based on the new perspective, a method was developed in which physical abilities and authentic needs for play were combined to guide the design of toys for these children. The results of this design project clearly indicate that a well thought-out reformulation of a design problem can lead to the design of original and valuable products.