Investigating the correlation between visual representation flow, physical prototyping, and designers’ creativity

Abstract

This study aims to explore how prototypes, sketches and CAD models supported designers during the designers during the early ideation, idea development in the engineering design process flow. Using a mixed-methods study, the designer’s roles and contributions were evaluated with respect to the achieved design quality. 81 Professional industrial designers were observed and interviewed after participating in five workshop sessions. After exploring different permutations of sketching, prototyping and CAD modelling, results indicate that starting with ‘Prototyping’ in the early ideation stage contributed significantly to more ideas of higher quality, broadening the ideation space. Using CAD modelling too early in the engineering design process constrains ideation and prematurely limits solution spaces.

Keywords:

• Prototypes
• design tools
• design activities
• design process
• computer-aided design
• sketching

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Siti Salwa Isa

Siti Salwa Isa ([email protected]) is a Senior Lecturer of Industrial Design at UiTM, Malaysia and holds a PhD from NTNU, Norway. Her research focuses on investigating the principles and practices of co-creation and participatory design within the context of Industrial Design. She is particularly interested in understanding how collaborative processes can be leveraged to enhance creativity, foster empathy, and improve the overall user experience. She has 22 years of teaching experience in the field of industrial design.

Andre Liem

André Liem ([email protected]) is an Associate Professor and has been teaching at the Department of Product Design, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, since January 2005. He has PhD in Ergonomics from the University of Lorraine and an MSc in Industrial Design Engineering from TU Delft. Prior to his engagement at NTNU, Dr. Liem has previously taught and developed the Industrial Design programs at two institutions; the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Polytechnic (Singapore). In terms of design practice, he has also undertaken design consultancy projects in the Netherlands, U.K., U.S.A. and Singapore.

Martin Steinert

Martin Steinert ([email protected]) is a professor of Eng. Design and Innovation at the Department of Eng. Design and Materials at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). He teaches fuzzy front-end engineering for radical new product/service/system concepts and graduate research seminars for PhDs engaged in topics related to new product design and development. Various research projects are usually multidisciplinary (ME/CS/EE/Neuro- and Cognitive Sc.) and often connected with industry. The aim is to uncover, understand and leverage early stage engineering design paradigms with a special focus onto human-machine/object interactions.

Nor Lelawati Jamaludin

Nor Lelawati Jamaludin ([email protected]) completed her PhD from the Department of Psychosocial Science of the Faculty of Psychology, University of Bergen. She was affiliated to The Graduate School of Human Interaction and Growth (GHIG) and was also a member of the Society and Workplace Diversity Research Group. Her thesis provides some insights into the psychological aspects of international students’ sojourn in a foreign country. In sum, the research art of her thesis draws attention to the complexity of the acculturation process together with the main objective of understanding international students’ experiences in foreign country.