Abstract
This paper provides the first systematic overview of how existing research has studied the temporal aspects of design ideas. Reviewing a corpus of research literature on design ideas, we contribute an overview of prevailing methodological approaches for studying design ideas as they emerge and evolve over time. This includes an examination of key correlations between methodological aspects such as length of study, length of object of study, methods, and data collection types. We find that prior studies a) typically examine the development of design ideas during short sessions, b) often use controlled experiment setups, and c) rarely explore the relationship between initial design ideas and design process outcomes. On this basis, we argue that current research approaches should be supplemented with new methods that address a) the temporal microscale to better understand the emergence of ideas, and b) the macroscale to illuminate how creative design ideas evolve beyond initial ideation sessions.
Keywords
time; temporality; design ideas; design research methods
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.546
Citation
Mose Biskjaer, M., Frich, J., Halskov, K., Nouwens, M., and Dalsgaard, P. (2024) How are design ideas studied over time?, in Gray, C., Ciliotta Chehade, E., Hekkert, P., Forlano, L., Ciuccarelli, P., Lloyd, P. (eds.), DRS2024: Boston, 23–28 June, Boston, USA. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.546
Creative Commons License
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Conference Track
Research Paper
Included in
How are design ideas studied over time?
This paper provides the first systematic overview of how existing research has studied the temporal aspects of design ideas. Reviewing a corpus of research literature on design ideas, we contribute an overview of prevailing methodological approaches for studying design ideas as they emerge and evolve over time. This includes an examination of key correlations between methodological aspects such as length of study, length of object of study, methods, and data collection types. We find that prior studies a) typically examine the development of design ideas during short sessions, b) often use controlled experiment setups, and c) rarely explore the relationship between initial design ideas and design process outcomes. On this basis, we argue that current research approaches should be supplemented with new methods that address a) the temporal microscale to better understand the emergence of ideas, and b) the macroscale to illuminate how creative design ideas evolve beyond initial ideation sessions.