Observations on concept generation and sketching in engineering design

The generation of ideas is an essential element in the process of design. One suggested approach to improving the quality of ideas is through increasing their quantity. In this study, concept generation is examined via brainstorming, morphology charts and sketching. Statistically significant correlations were found between the quantity of brainstormed ideas and design outcome. In some, but not all, experiments, correlations were found between the quantity of morphological alternatives and design outcome. This discrepancy between study results hints at the role of project length and difficulty in design. The volume of dimensioned drawings generated during the early-to-middle phases of design were found to correlate with design outcome, suggesting the importance of concrete sketching, timing and milestones in the design process.

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