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Abstract
Assumptions about how design students use virtual and physical modelling during design development were tested in this study. The aim of the experiment was to observe what students actually do rather than what it is supposed that they do.
Design undergraduates were briefed on a one-day project. After a morning spent developing ideas on paper, they were assigned to an afternoon of modelling using physical or virtual techniques. Sketches, models and progress diaries kept by the participants were collected for analysis.
The results of the physical techniques support conventional notions of the value of sketch models as a medium for evaluating and stimulating ideas. The results of the virtual techniques suggest that CAD has little or no value as a stimulus for ideas.
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Notes on contributors
Chris Charlesworth
Chris Charlesworth is a designer/maker whose work ranges from small-scale industrial models to full-scale exhibitions and everything in between. He is currently Technical Team Leader of the 3D modelmaking facility at the University of Huddersfield, where he also conducts research into the application of rapid prototyping technology in an educational context, having recently completed an MA in Design at Sheffield Hallam University in this field.