Novice Designers Research Articles

Developing design mindset: how individual and contextual factors influence the development of design mindset through method teaching

Method Teaching is an essential approach for training novice designers to think and act like designers. Methods are commonly used in design education, yet with varying outcomes and experiences for students. There is a need to better understand how individual and contextual factors influence the effectiveness of Method Teaching. In this quasi-experimental pre-post-intervention study, we investigate how group composition, motivation, Design Mindset (D-Mindset0.1), Self-efficacy (GSES), Ambiguity tolerance (TAS), and Sensation-seeking (BSSS) influence students’ learning through Method Teaching. Our results show that Method Teaching increases Design Mindset scores and that the effectiveness of Method Teaching is influenced significantly by the three personality traits and the level of prior Design Mindset.

A Department-Wide Transition to a New Mode of Computer-Aided Assessment Using STACK

AbstractWe focus on the integration of STACK—a Computer-Aided Assessment (CAA) technology—in the mathematics department of a high-ranking University in the United Kingdom. We study a department-wide project where instructors were expected to implement STACK into continuous assessment tasks for (nearly) all core modules across the first two years of undergraduate study. We present this work as a departmental case study, drawing on semi-structured interviews with six novice STACK assessment designers (and module leaders), supplemented by students’ responses to an open-response feedback questionnaire, and the reflections of a co-project lead (also first author). Our thematic analysis identified four themes related to the design of STACK-based assessments by novice to STACK tutors: the process of ‘STACKification’, technical challenges, users’ perspectives on the role of CAA, and finally, variations in assessment designers’ approaches to the role of feedback. In presenting our results, we are guided by Sangwin’s (2013) design principles for mathematics assessment. We consider various technical aspects of implementing STACK-based assessments as a first-time user, and the knowledge required to do so effectively and coherently. We conclude with a series of reflections on the role of CAA in undergraduate mathematics, and the ways in which such technology can be productively integrated with established practice.

Sketch, CAD, or simulate the build? Exploring novice designers’ design representation use in design for additive manufacturing

ABSTRACT The growing adoption of digital tools to support additive manufacturing (AM) calls for designers to rethink their use of design representations in the design process. For example, designers can automate concept generation through generative design, reducing reliance on conceptual sketches. Little research has explored designers’ use of design representations in design for AM (DfAM). We explored this gap through an observational study with novice designers involving an open-ended DfAM task, and their use of design representations was captured using eye-tracking. Overall, participants spent a significant amount of time CAD modeling their designs compared to using other design representations such as sketches and build simulations. Moreover, participants’ design representation usage did not relate to the creativity of their designs. However, participants who generate high-performing designs spent more time CAD modeling and less time sketching – a novel and important finding from our study. Therefore, the advancement of digital design tools and the growing adoption of digital manufacturing processes may result in designers conceptualizing their solutions in embodiment-based tools such as CAD and relying less on low-fidelity tools such as sketching. Our results provide an essential first step toward creating a generalized framework for designers to employ different design representations in DfAM.

Feeling The Distance: Exploring Novice Student Designers' Perceptions of the Psychological Distance and Empathic Response Towards Variations of a Sustainable Design Problem

Abstract Research suggests novice designers find it challenging to integrate social context into engineering design. This challenge could be pronounced in sustainable design because the effects of climate change are perceived to be psychologically distant, which inhibits active engagement in sustainable behavior. However, prior work assesses psychological distance as an aggregate of its various subcomponents (e.g., temporal, social, spatial, and hypothetical). Limited research has explored how these components vary based on the socio-spatial context of the problem. Additionally, empathy development could be an effective mechanism to bridge psychological distance. However, little is known about the impact of empathy-focused problem formulation on student perceptions. We studied students' perceptions of problem formulations in a 2×2 factorial between-subjects experiment. The problems varied in (1) their socio-spatial context and (2) their empathy-focus. We measured the students' perceptions of the problem formulations using: (1) perceived psychological distance and (2) perceived empathic response. We find that participants reported the problem contextualized in India to be a more immediate threat compared to the one in the USA. Moreover, we find no significant differences in the other components of psychological distance or empathic response between the problem variants. This finding suggests that participants perceive environmental issues as currently affecting people in other parts of the world, and not themselves, but only from a temporal lens. These findings call for educators to carefully consider temporal framing when using socio-spatially far sustainable design problems as a lack of consideration could create faulty perceptions.

A Systematic Literature Review of Novice Visual Representations of Design Ideas: A Three-Pronged Design Sketching Framework

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to systematically investigate how novice visual representation of design ideas has been operationalized, measured, or assessed in the research literature. In the different screening phases in this systematic review, inclusion, exclusion, and quality criteria were applied. From an initial sample of 958 articles, 40 studies were included in the final step of the coding process and qualitative synthesis. Applying provisional and open coding, three broad themes and 23 characteristics were identified that researchers used to conceptualize sketching of ideas in novice design activities: Communicating Ideas, Visual-Spatial Characteristics, and Design Creativity. We propose this Three-pronged Design Sketching (3-pDS) framework to examine and better understand novice design sketches, that is, K–16.

The Role of AI Design Assistance on the Architectural Design Process: An Empirical Research with Novice Designers

This study explores the integration of Generative Design Assistants (GDAs), specifically machine learning based tools, in the architectural design process. It investigates how these tools, once confined to experimental realms, are now influencing mainstream architectural practice, particularly among novice architects. The research focuses on third and fourth-year architecture students, examining how they adapt to and integrate these advanced AI tools into their design workflows. Through an empirical online workshop, the study collected data of design process recordings, design output success scores of students by an independent jury, and post-experiment surveys. This approach provided insights into the timing, frequency, and sequence of GDA usage, as well as the influence of specific GDA features on design success. The research reveals that three primary strategies emerged in students' GDA usage: continuous use throughout the design process, selective problem-solving use, and initial ideation use followed by traditional methods. However, an over-reliance on GDAs was noted to potentially limit the designer’s interpretive and developmental input. The survey shows that different GDAs have distinct strengths and impacts on the design process. In terms of selected GDAs for the experiment, ArchiGAN aids in discovery and ideation, while HouseGAN excels in reframing design problems. In conclusion, the study underscores the transformative potential and challenges of GDAs in architectural design and highlights the need for balanced GDA integration. The research outputs show that future research should focus on the long-term implications of GDAs in architectural education. This research aims to guide the effective integration of AI in architecture, enhancing the human designer's role rather than overshadowing it.

Mapping Novice Designer Behavior to Design Fixation in the Early-Stage Design Process

Abstract In the engineering design process, design fixation significantly constrains the diversity of design solutions. Numerous studies have aimed to mitigate design fixation, yet determining its occurrence in real-time remains a challenge. This research seeks to systematically identify the emergence of fixation through the behavior of novice designers in the early stages of the design process. We conducted a laboratory study, involving 50 novice designers possessing engineering drafting skills. Their design processes were monitored via video cameras, with both their design solutions and physical behaviors recorded. Subsequently, expert evaluators categorized design solutions into three types: Fixation, Low-quality, and Innovative. We manually recorded the names and durations of 31 different physical behaviors observed in the videos, which were then coded and filtered. Meanwhile, we propose a filtering and calculation method for the behavior in the design process. From this, four fixation behaviors were identified using variance analysis (ANOVA): Touch Mouth (TM), Touch Head (TH), Rest Head in Hands (RH), and Hold Face in Hands (HF). Our findings suggest that continuous interaction between the hand and head, mouth, or face can be indicative of a fixation state. Finally, we developed a Behavior-Fixation model based on the Support Vector Machine (SVM) for stage fixation judgment tasks, achieving an accuracy rate of 85.6%. This machine-learning model outperforms manual assessment in speed and accuracy. Overall, our study offers promising prospects for assisting designers in recognizing and avoiding design fixation. These findings, coupled with our proposed computational techniques, provide valuable insights for the development of automated and intelligent design innovation systems.

Design and Development of Fuel Cell Learning through Digital Game-Based Learning to Raise Awareness of Low Carbon Emissions

Fuel cell technology is currently being widely promoted to the general public as one of the most promising sustainable energy sources that can contribute to reducing carbon emissions. Considering this, digital game-based learning (DGBL) was created to educate the general public about fuel cells, with a focus on the younger generation such as secondary school students. This paper discusses the design and development phases, during which instructional design and game elements are integrated into producing a fuel cell DGBL prototype. Five-panel experts examine the learning content to make sure it is valid in the design phase. Next, two testing cycles were conducted on the developed fuel cell DGBL prototype: one internal group test and one focused group test including five 14-year-old students from a chosen secondary school. During the testing, three different approaches to collecting data were used: written surveys, in-person interviews, and observation. The outcome presents useful information that may be applied to enhance the game's efficacy and playability. Therefore, any novice designer or practitioner can benefit from these findings' helpful advice while developing an effective DGBL.

Asymmetric VR Game Subgenres: Implications for Analysis and Design

This paper identifies subgenres of asymmetric virtual reality (AVR) games and proposes the AVR Game Genre (AVRGG) framework for developing AVR games. We examined 66 games “in the wild” to develop the AVRGG and used it to identify 5 subgenres of AVR games including David(s) vs. Goliath, Hide and Seek, Perspective Puzzle, Order Simulation, and Lifeline. We describe these genres, which account for nearly half of the 66 games reviewed, in terms of the AVRGG framework that highlights salient asymmetries in the mechanics, dynamics, and aesthetics categories. To evaluate the usefulness of the AVRGG framework, we conducted four workshops (two with the AVRGG framework and two without) with novice game designers who generated 16 original AVR game concepts. Comparisons between the workshop groups, observations of the design sessions, focus groups, and surveys showed the promise and limitations of the AVRGG framework as a design tool. We found that novice designers were able to understand and apply the AVRGG framework after only a brief introduction. The observations indicated two primary challenges that AVR designers face: balancing the game between VR and non-VR player(s) and generating original game concepts. The AVRGG framework helped overcome the balancing concerns due to its ability to inspire novice game designers with example subgenres and draw attention to the asymmetric mechanics and competitive/cooperative nature of games. While half of those who used the AVRGG framework to design with created games that fit directly into existing subgenres, the other half viewed the subgenres as “creative constraints” useful in jumpstarting novel game designs that combined, modified, or purposefully avoided existing subgenres. Additional benefits and limitations of the AVRGG framework are outlined in the paper.

Investigating the role of spatial thinking in children’s design ideation through an open-ended design-by-analogy challenge

Spatial thinking is ubiquitous in design. Design education across all age groups encompasses a range of spatially challenging activities, such as forming and modifying mental representations of ideas, and visualizing the scenarios of design prototypes being used. While extensive research has examined the cognitive processes of spatial thinking and their relationships to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics learning, there remains a knowledge gap regarding the specific spatial thinking processes needed for open-ended problems, which may differ from those assessed in close-ended, analytical spatial tasks. To address this gap, we used educational design-based research to develop a nature-inspired, design-by-analogy project and investigate the spatial thinking processes of young, novice designers. 16 children from an international school in the Netherlands participated in this five-week design project. Multimodal evidence from classroom recordings and children’s design works were triangulated to offer insight into the key spatial thinking processes involved in their creation of nature-inspired, analogy-based design prototypes. Our results revealed spatial thinking processes that might not align with those assessed in conventional spatial tests and may be unique to design or open-ended problem-solving. These processes include abstracting spatial features to infer form-function relationships, retrieving a range of relevant visual information from memory, developing multiple possible analogical matches based on spatial features and relationships, elaborating and iterating on the design concepts and representations to make creative and suitable solutions for the design challenge, as well as visualizing design prototypes in practical usage scenarios. By highlighting the nuanced differences between spatial thinking in open-ended, divergent thinking tasks and conventional spatial tasks that demand single correct solutions, our research contributes to a deeper understanding of how children utilize spatial thinking in design and open-ended problem-solving contexts. Furthermore, this case study offers practical implications for scaffolding children's analogical reasoning and nurturing their spatial thinking in design education.

On the Cultivation of Designers’ Emotional Connoisseurship (Part 1): A Theoretical Positioning

This two-part article explores the concept of emotional connoisseurship—the art of appreciating lived emotional experiences in emotion-driven design (EDD). In Part 1, we aim to establish and position the concept within the current EDD theoretical landscape. We first review the concept of connoisseurship, its origins, development, and relevance to professional practices. Second, building upon the existing design literature, we scrutinize the relationships between design connoisseurship and design expertise. We then conceptualize emotional connoisseurship as an essential skill that designers aspiring to practice EDD must actively cultivate, along with learning EDD theories, methods, and tools. After that, we reflect on how previous EDD research outcomes (i.e., emotional granularity design tools) can support the development of a designer’s emotional connoisseurship, especially in a schema-oriented or top-down manner, and argue the need for a sensibility-oriented or bottom-up approach. Part 1 sets the stage for Part 2. Part 2 will detail our pedagogical initiative supporting the self-cultivation of emotional connoisseurship among novice designers through a sensibility-oriented approach.

Learning by doing? The relationship between effort, learning effect and product quality during hackathons of novice teams

Abstract Design education prepares novice designers to solve complex and challenging problems requiring diverse skill sets and an interdisciplinary approach. Hackathons, for example, offer a hands-on, collaborative learning approach in a limited time frame to gain practical experience and develop problem-solving skills quickly. They enable collaboration, prototyping and testing among interdisciplinary teams. Typically, hackathons strongly focus on the solution, assuming that this will support learning. However, building the best product and achieving a strong learning effect may not be related. This paper presents the results of an empirical study that examines the relationship between product quality, learning effect and effort spent in an academic 2-week hackathon. Thirty teams identified user problems in this course and developed hardware and mechatronic products. This study collected the following data: (1) effort spent during the hackathon through task tracking, (2) learning effect through self-assessment by the participants and (3) product quality after the hackathon by an external jury. The study found that the team effort spent has a statistically significant but moderate correlation with product quality. The correlation between product quality and learning effect is statistically insignificant, suggesting that for this setting, there is no relevant association.

GENERATIVE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE VS HUMANS IN THE PROCESS OF CREATING CORPORATE IDENTITY ELEMENTS

The emergence of new tools, the appearance of new technologies and improvements to existing ones have resulted in expansion of generative artificial intelligence. The technologies of generative artificial intelligence have already been used by people to perform not only intellectual tasks, but also creative ones, in particular in the field of design. Therefore, their capabilities in graphic design need to be studied. One of the routine tasks of a designer is the development of corporate identity elements (a logo, font, and colour). Designers can spend a lot of time on this, choosing different style options. Therefore, delegating this routine work to generative artificial intelligence may be appropriate. With this practical need in mind, the capabilities of modern AI tools for image and logo generation were studied in the research, and the results of AI logo generation compared to the work of novice designers were analysed. As a result, conclusions were drawn about the expediency of using generative AI technology in the work of designers, in particular, for the development of corporate identity elements, and the appropriateness of studying generative artificial intelligence technology in the training of future designers. These conclusions were made on the basis of a survey of 41 experts in the field of design, information technology and artificial intelligence. Based on the findings of the survey, we can note that it was difficult for experts to distinguish between logos generated by artificial intelligence and logos created by novice designers. Logos developed by novice designers (5) were recognized as the most attractive among the 45 logos presented in the survey. Images generated in some AI tools (Tailor Brands, Hatchful) are considered attractive by design, information technology and artificial intelligence professionals. Therefore, they can be used to create corporate identity elements. Thus, the vast majority of experts agreed that artificial intelligence tools for generating images and logos should be used in the process of creating corporate identity elements. In addition, the vast majority of experts found it advisable to use generative artificial intelligence technologies in the process of professional training of future designers.

Spatial Scales in the Making of Future Experiences

The fundamental principle in experience design is a fluctuation between familiarity and unfamiliarity, which invites users to make his or her own sense of a design. This is an inclusivist attitude aiming at evoking curiosity about what is actually going on. One of the ways to generate this fluctuation is by manipulating the spatial scales as part of redesigning and restorying buildings. Through examining how novice designers handle spatial scales in their construction of an experience to come, the paper identifies four approaches, arguing that they may serve as scale-oriented design principles for restorying a building as either more familiar or more unfamiliar, more homely (“a place”) or more alien (“space”). Our argument is that these principles can be used systematically to promote this fluctuation as part of the making of future experiences of buildings and to stimulate user inclusion as a collaborate manner of future making.

Situational selections of design methods for digital innovation processes

Purpose Numerous design methods are available to facilitate digital innovation processes in user interface design. Nonetheless, little guidance exists on their appropriate selection within the design process based on specific situations. Consequently, design novices with limited design knowledge face challenges when determining suitable methods. Thus, this paper aims to support design novices by guiding the situational selection of design methods. Design/methodology/approach Our research approach includes two phases: i) we adopted a taxonomy development method to identify dimensions of design methods by reviewing 292 potential design methods and interviewing 15 experts; ii) we conducted focus groups with 25 design novices and applied fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to describe the relations between the taxonomy's dimensions. Findings We developed a novel taxonomy that presents a comprehensive overview of design conditions and their associated design methods in innovation processes. Thus, the taxonomy enables design novices to navigate the complexities of design methods needed to design digital innovation. We also identify configurations of these conditions that support the situational selections of design methods in digital innovation processes of user interface design. Originality/value The study’s contribution to the literature lies in the identification of both similarities and differences among design methods, as well as the investigation of sufficient condition configurations within the digital innovation processes of user interface design. The taxonomy helps design novices to navigate the design space by providing an overview of design conditions and the associations between methods and these conditions. By using the developed taxonomy, design novices can narrow down their options when selecting design methods for their specific situations.

Off-the-shelf optical systems design enabled by an evolution strategy: front stop case

Commercial off-the-shelf optics enable economic and rapid solutions in the photonics industry and academia. However, the design of optical systems with off-the-shelf optics is a time-consuming task for experienced optical designers and hopeless for novice designers. In this paper, we propose an automatic optical design tool to generate optical systems using only off-the-shelf optical components without human assistance. Our solution is based on an evolution strategy (ES) that performs a discrete combinatorial optimization following optical design-based methodologies that satisfy user-defined specifications. Unlike the conventional methods, the algorithm decreases the design process time and provides optical designers with several optical solutions from where to choose and adapt for targeted applications. In this work, the ES is described and tested with front stop optical configurations. We demonstrate the broad solution domain of the algorithm through the generation of optical systems with F-numbers within a range F/1 to F/90 and field of views up to 300 mm at the image plane. To analyze the solution domain and the characteristics of the solution, we used the design specifications of 29 commercially available scan lenses and compared the performance of different ES parameters. The compatibility of our algorithm with (standard) commercially available optical design software unlocks automatic design tools for off-the-shelf optical systems.

Pemanfaatan Canva Sebagai Media Perancangan Grafis

Canva is an online design program application that provides various tools or editing tools to create various graphic designs easily without having to design them from scratch. This research is aimed at providing a solution for using the Canva application as a graphic design medium for novice designers and online marketers. This approach uses a media understanding theory approach. As well as using a qualitative descriptive approach to interpret existing phenomena. The primary data collection process was carried out through in-depth interviews. The results of this research describe that the use of Canva as a graphic design medium is able to provide ease of use, increase designer creativity and produce graphic design content with new innovations.

Confidence in Movement-Based Game Design Facilitation: Learning From a Novice Design Facilitator

Several movement-based and embodied design methods have been developed to supplement existing game design methods. Facilitating movement-based design methods is a practice that most game designers must master. Facilitation involves taking on several responsibilities and roles to ensure processes and activities follow the design project's principal values. For instance, the facilitator must possess design expertise and social awareness, be a direction setter and trust builder, facilitate stage engagement and mood, energise for commitment, and maintain a playful attitude. The many responsibilities and significant involvement will inevitably affect the facilitator, who enters an affective state facilitating the design activities. Through a phenomenological comparative analysis, this study explores how novice versus experienced facilitators perceive the emotion of confidence and its implications on the facilitation process. This analysis is based on a single case study of a two-day movement-based sports innovation camp for 80 K-12 high school students. Empirical data were generated using a combination of observations and interviews with seven of the involved facilitators: three experienced facilitators and four novice facilitators. Our research indicates that facilitation can be categorised into three stages focused on (1) Structure, (2) Process, and (3) Content. Reaching the Content stages requires a high bodily involvement closely linked to the facilitator’s confidence level, which we partially interpret as determined by the courage to use one’s body as a facilitation resource. Thus, the facilitation Process depends not only on the facilitator's level of expertise but also on confidence level and courage. Consequently, we recommend thorough preparation for each facilitation stage to support the facilitator's confidence. Structure: Outline a detailed playbook, organise the physical space and prepare necessary materials. Process: Prepare strategies for providing guidance and feedback. Content: Implement Movement-Modifiers and participate in warm-up activities.

CAN ABDUCTION RESEARCH ENHANCE UNDERSTANDING OF DESIGN PROCESSES ACCOUNTED FOR BY C-K THEORY?

AbstractDesign process descriptions in the literature in general and those using C-K theory in particular lack some useful cognitive information that may affect the credibility of the process. Notions from abduction research are presented and proposed for enhancing such descriptions. Specifically, it is important to distinguish between design activities that are intuitive and those that result from deliberation; a topic that has long been discussed by philosophers of science and design scholars. The focus of the paper is on the ubiquitous design moves of proposing an idea and selecting among ideas, and on their execution by expert and novice designers.

THE EFFECTS OF SCENARIOS ON DECISION-MAKING QUALITY IN EARLY DESIGN – AN EMPIRICAL STUDY

AbstractScenario planning is often used in design practice to foster futures thinking, reduce uncertainties and improve decision-making. Scenarios are especially relevant for innovation activities in manufacturing companies, such as technology development, a particularly uncertain process where many trade-offs occur. This study is, to the authors knowledge, the first to empirically measure the effect of scenarios in decision-making quality, in the context of technology development. In a quasi-experiment, engineers from a manufacturing company and university students were independently asked to analyse a trade-off situation between environmental and financial aspects of a technology concept, with and without scenarios. The quality of decision-making quality for control and experiment groups was measured through a standardized questionnaire. The results show that scenarios had a positive impact in 6 of the 7 quality decision-making practices (QMDP), although the effect size is small. The results suggest that both expert and novice designers may benefit from using scenario planning when performing early-stage design activities by having awareness of the decision context, a more structured decision process, and clearer decision criteria.