Abstract
Quintessential products, forms widely perceived as typical examples of their category, are embedded in everyday life, yet their influence on product design ideation remains largely unexplored. This study investigates if and how such products can affect inspiration in the creative process of students and suggests approaches on how to address fixation, should it arise from the quintessential stimuli. Through a multi-modal case study with design students working on product development briefs, the research captures both self-reported and observed data to reveal patterns in creative decision-making. The findings indicate that quintessence is not particularly perceived as highly inspirational; however, there might be an opportunity to employ it in education as purposeful stimuli for helping students overcome creative challenges in convergent stages. This research offers insights into the design inspiration and education literature, offering perspectives on the cognitive processes relating to innovation.
Keywords
Design education, product design process, inspiration, quintessence, cognitive science
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.418
Citation
de Moura Figueiredo, B. (2026) Influence and potential of quintessential forms as inspirational stimuli, in Simeone, L., Gray, C. M., Verhoeven, A., de Götzen, A., Bakırlıoğlu, Y., Zohar, H., Stead, M., and Buwert, P. (eds.), DRS2026: Edinburgh, 8–12 June, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.418
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Included in
Influence and potential of quintessential forms as inspirational stimuli
Quintessential products, forms widely perceived as typical examples of their category, are embedded in everyday life, yet their influence on product design ideation remains largely unexplored. This study investigates if and how such products can affect inspiration in the creative process of students and suggests approaches on how to address fixation, should it arise from the quintessential stimuli. Through a multi-modal case study with design students working on product development briefs, the research captures both self-reported and observed data to reveal patterns in creative decision-making. The findings indicate that quintessence is not particularly perceived as highly inspirational; however, there might be an opportunity to employ it in education as purposeful stimuli for helping students overcome creative challenges in convergent stages. This research offers insights into the design inspiration and education literature, offering perspectives on the cognitive processes relating to innovation.