Contextualizing design: narratives and rationalization in empirical studies of software design

This paper addresses the notion that contextualization of the design process can lead to second-order accounts of design problem solving which may not adequately reflect the actual behaviour of designers. Experimental work is briefly reported indicating differences between described and actual behaviour in a software design task. We examine ways in which contextualization might affect individual cognitive behaviour and using this framework we suggest reasons why divergent perspectives of the design process might arise and continue to endure. Finally, we argue that design problem solving is host to a range of potential problems that are not typically encountered in psychological studies of other problem solving behaviours.

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