The Effects of Individual Differences in Working Memory Capacity and Design Environment on Design Fixation

The current study investigates how design fixation, a negative limitation in a designer’s creative output due to an overreliance on features of preexisting designs, is affected by a designer’s environment and his or her working memory capacity. Participants in this study were 29 undergraduate students (21 women, 8 men) enrolled at a large metropolitan university. Participants completed a computerized assessment of working memory capacity, viewed an example poster design intended to create design fixation, and then designed their own poster in either a quiet or noisy environment. The results of the study revealed a significant interaction between design environment, working memory capacity, and design fixation effects and a significant main effect of working memory capacity on fixation. The results are discussed as they relate to the design of products and systems with optimal human factors characteristics, and how designers might self-select optimal design environments on the basis of their working memory capacity.

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