What inspires designers? Preferences on inspirational approaches during idea generation

Searching for inspirational stimuli is an essential step in the initial stages of the design process. However, there is a lack of information on what designers search for during such a phase. There is no distinction between what student and professional designers use as inspirational sources or idea generation methods. We present the results of a questionnaire involving 103 student and 52 professional designers on their reported preferences for inspirational approaches. Students and, to some extent, professional designers seem to give an exaggerated importance to a restricted number of approaches, when they could take advantage of a wide range of available resources. Further results have uncovered possible research directions for the exploration of alternative stimuli for inspiration during ideation phases.

[1]  Kim Halskov Madsen,et al.  A guide to metaphorical design , 1994 .

[2]  Gabriela Goldschmidt,et al.  Variances in the impact of visual stimuli on design problem solving performance , 2006 .

[3]  P. Paulus Groups, Teams, and Creativity: The Creative Potential of Idea-generating Groups , 2000 .

[4]  Bruce Hanington,et al.  Methods in the Making: A Perspective on the State of Human Research in Design , 2003, Design Issues.

[5]  Ross A. Malaga The effect of stimulus modes and associative distance in individual creativity support systems , 2000, Decis. Support Syst..

[6]  Alice M. Agogino,et al.  Analogies and metaphors in creative design , 2008 .

[7]  Ellen Yi-Luen Do,et al.  Extended linkography and distance graph in design evaluation: an empirical study of the dual effects of inspiration sources in creative design , 2010 .

[8]  Lassi A. Liikkanen,et al.  Exposure Effects in Design Idea Generation: Unconscious Conformity or a Product of Sampling Probability? , 2006 .

[9]  Claudia Eckert,et al.  Sources of inspiration: a language of design , 2000 .

[10]  Michael Diehl,et al.  Productivity loss in idea-generating groups: Tracking down the blocking effect. , 1991 .

[11]  Amaresh Chakrabarti,et al.  The effect of representation of triggers on design outcomes , 2008, Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design, Analysis and Manufacturing.

[12]  Gert Pasman,et al.  Designing with precedents , 2003 .

[13]  Wim Muller Design discipline and the significance of visuo-spatial thinking , 1989 .

[14]  Charles M. Eastman,et al.  New Directions in Design Cognition: Studies of Representation and Recall , 2001 .

[15]  Donald W. Taylor,et al.  DOES GROUP PARTICIPATION WHEN USING BRAINSTORMING FACILITATE OR INHIBIT CREATIVE THINKING , 1958 .

[16]  Gerald F. Smith Idea‐Generation Techniques: A Formulary of Active Ingredients , 1998 .

[17]  R. Weisberg Creativity and knowledge: A challenge to theories. , 1998 .

[18]  Albert Sydney Hornby,et al.  Oxford advanced learner\'s dictionary of current English / A S Hornby with A P Cowie, A C Gimson , 1975 .

[19]  S. Dreyfus,et al.  Peripheral Vision , 2005 .

[20]  Todd C. Kelley,et al.  The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity from IDEO, America's Leading Design Firm , 2001 .

[21]  Steven M. Smith,et al.  Metrics for measuring ideation effectiveness , 2003 .

[22]  Jaap Daalhuizen,et al.  Delft Design Guide , 2010 .

[23]  M. Diehl,et al.  Productivity loss in brainstorming groups: Toward the solution of a riddle. , 1987 .

[24]  Kristian T. Simsarian,et al.  Take it to the next stage: the roles of role playing in the design process , 2003, CHI Extended Abstracts.

[25]  Eric F. Rietzschel,et al.  Productivity is not enough: A comparison of interactive and nominal brainstorming groups on idea generation and selection. , 2006 .

[26]  Michael Joseph French,et al.  Conceptual Design for Engineers , 1985 .

[27]  B. Lawson Schemata, gambits and precedent: some factors in design expertise , 2004 .

[28]  Claudia Eckert,et al.  Algorithms and inspirations: creative reuse of design experience , 2000 .

[29]  Mara Mather,et al.  Remembering chosen and assigned options , 2003, Memory & cognition.

[30]  W. Gordon Synectics: The Development of Creative Capacity , 1961 .

[31]  Thomas A. Kayser Building team power : how to unleash the collaborative genius of work teams , 1994 .

[32]  Marian Petre,et al.  How expert engineering teams use disciplines of innovation , 2004 .

[33]  Gabriela Goldschmidt,et al.  Inspiring design ideas with texts , 2011 .

[34]  M. Diehl,et al.  Why Groups are less Effective than their Members: On Productivity Losses in Idea-generating Groups , 1994 .

[35]  Pieter Jan Stappers,et al.  Collecting with Cabinet: or how designers organise visual material, researched through an experiential prototype , 2009 .

[36]  Jami J. Shah,et al.  Evaluation of idea generation methods for conceptual design: Effectiveness metrics and design of experiments , 2000 .

[37]  Rivka Oxman,et al.  Refinement and adaptation in design cognition , 1992 .

[38]  Brian P. Bailey,et al.  Idea Generation Techniques among Creative Professionals , 2009 .

[39]  Michael Michalko,et al.  Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Creative-Thinking Techniques , 1991 .

[40]  Peter Lloyd,et al.  Discovering the design problem , 1994 .

[41]  Linden J. Ball,et al.  Analogical Reasoning and Mental Simulation in Design: Two Strategies Linked to Uncertainty Resolution , 2009 .

[42]  I. Nonaka,et al.  The Knowledge Creating Company , 2008 .

[43]  Claudia Eckert,et al.  REFERENCES TO PAST DESIGNS , 2005 .

[44]  Michael Tovey,et al.  Intuitive and objective processes in automotive design , 1992 .

[45]  Brian P. Bailey,et al.  Getting inspired!: understanding how and why examples are used in creative design practice , 2009, CHI.

[46]  Kathryn Henderson,et al.  On Line and On Paper: Visual Representations, Visual Culture, and Computer Graphics in Design Engineering , 1998 .

[47]  John S. Gero,et al.  Design and other types of fixation , 1996 .

[48]  Hernan Casakin,et al.  Visual analogy as a cognitive strategy in the design process. Expert versus novice performance , 2004 .

[49]  Nigel Cross,et al.  Engineering Design Methods: Strategies for Product Design , 1994 .

[50]  Linden J. Ball,et al.  Spontaneous analogising in engineering design: a comparative analysis of experts and novices , 2004 .

[51]  Nigel Cross,et al.  Expertise in Design: an overview , 2004 .

[52]  Daniel R. Tobin The Knowledge-Enabled Organization , 1997 .

[53]  G. Goldschmidt,et al.  Reasoning by Visual Analogy in Design Problem-Solving: The Role of Guidance , 2000 .