Visualization and inquiry into mental content in design activity: a case study of design interpretation

Yuval Kahlon,Haruyuki Fujii

doi:10.1017/s0890060421000172

Abstract

AbstractThe study of interpretation is of major importance for our understanding of design cognition. When interacting with design representations, designers often rely on metaphorical descriptions as interpretive devices, which aid in coping with the task at hand. Consequently, such descriptions can enlighten us regarding the designer's perspective of the situation, and their analysis can deepen our knowledge of design cognition. We observe designers as they metaphorically interpret design representations during a simple task of spatial configuration, and introduce an approach for modeling this practice, as a means for getting insights into the designer's mental world. In this, we draw on traditional practices of protocol analysis, as well as on state-of-the-art theoretical frameworks for situated design and discourse analysis. Our integrated approach demonstrates how important relations between external and internal reality in design activity can be mapped and visualized. This sheds some light on the cognitive process of interpretation in design. The proposed method can both serve as a basis for detailed analyses of design cognition and for the enhancement of current models for situated design agents.

Highlights

In 1979, Jane Darke pleaded for embracing subjective aspects into the study of design processes (Darke, 1979)
We provide an account of an episode from a chosen design session, in which we can closely observe how designers engage in interpretation and assign meanings to design representations
We propose to approach the study of interpretation as an activity closely tied with the generation of metaphoric images, in which mental content is organized

Summary

Introduction

In 1979, Jane Darke pleaded for embracing subjective aspects into the study of design processes (Darke, 1979). It is difficult to overstate the importance of studying interpretation for deepening our understanding of human design processes. As metaphors enable designers to mentally capture complex relations within short, memorable descriptions (Hey and Agogino, 2007), they intuitively facilitate both of the above sub-processes, and are powerful interpretive tools. The basic principle at work is as follows: by invoking a metaphor (consider their famous example of “time is money”), we are forming a mapping between two domains (time and finance). This enables us to further understand one in terms of the other (e.g., to money, time can be “spent”). Since such mappings enable to fluidly encode and decode information which is viewed as meaningful from one’s perspective, they enhance designers’ capability to cope with design problems in real-time (Casakin, 2006)

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