The effects of representation on idea generation and design fixation: A study comparing sketches and function trees

Published Date
January 2016, Vol.42:110–136, doi:10.1016/j.destud.2015.10.005

Author 

• Olufunmilola Atilola
• Megan Tomko
• Julie S. Linsey ^,

• Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA

Available online 21 November 2015.

Highlights

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  Representations in engineering design promote clarity, but cause fixation.
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  A representation influences the creativity of the designer.
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  During idea generation, function trees offer advantages for reducing fixation.

Representations in engineering design can be hand sketches, photographs, CAD, functional models, physical models, or text. Using representations allows engineers to gain a clearer picture of how a design works. We present an experiment that compares the influence of representations on fixation and creativity. This experiment presents designers with an example solution represented as a function tree and a sketch, we compare how these different external representations influence design fixation as they complete a design task. Results show that function trees do not cause fixation to ideas compared to a control group, and that function trees reduce fixation when compared to sketches. Results from this experiment show that function tree representations offer advantages for reducing fixation during idea generation.

Keywords

design fixation

engineering design

conceptual design

design activity

creativity

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  Corresponding author. Julie Linsey
  
  

For further details log on website :
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0142694X15000939