Abstract
As digital, connected, and intelligent technologies continue to evolve, smart product designers are increasingly engaging with diverse types of data during the concept exploration stage. Scenario data, a structured and integrative set of contextual information, has received increasing attention for its potential to transform fragmented inputs into user-centered insights. However, how designers identify, interpret, and utilize scenario data remains under explored. This study investigates how experienced smart product designers leverage scenario data in the Problem Space, corresponding to the Discover and Define phases of the Double Diamond process, to support idea generation and problem framing. Drawing on a two-phase qualitative study involving expert interviews, we propose a scenario data taxonomy consisting of two structural layers, five categories, and 14 subtypes. Building on this taxonomy, we illustrate how experienced designers construct scenario-data-based narratives that support ideation and problem reasoning. The findings underscore the value of structured scenario data as a heuristic design material that promotes team alignment, fosters empathy, and enables data- informed design thinking in dynamic digital design contexts.
Keywords
Scenario data; Concept exploration; Idea generation; Problem framing
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2025.562
Citation
Peng, Y., Yuan, X.,and Tan, Y.(2025) Understanding the Role of Scenario Data in Idea Generation and Problem Framing: A Qualitative Study in Smart Product Design, in Chang, C.-Y., and Hsu, Y. (eds.), IASDR 2025: Design Next, 02-05 December, Taiwan. https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2025.562
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Conference Track
Track 5 - Design Thinking
Understanding the Role of Scenario Data in Idea Generation and Problem Framing: A Qualitative Study in Smart Product Design
As digital, connected, and intelligent technologies continue to evolve, smart product designers are increasingly engaging with diverse types of data during the concept exploration stage. Scenario data, a structured and integrative set of contextual information, has received increasing attention for its potential to transform fragmented inputs into user-centered insights. However, how designers identify, interpret, and utilize scenario data remains under explored. This study investigates how experienced smart product designers leverage scenario data in the Problem Space, corresponding to the Discover and Define phases of the Double Diamond process, to support idea generation and problem framing. Drawing on a two-phase qualitative study involving expert interviews, we propose a scenario data taxonomy consisting of two structural layers, five categories, and 14 subtypes. Building on this taxonomy, we illustrate how experienced designers construct scenario-data-based narratives that support ideation and problem reasoning. The findings underscore the value of structured scenario data as a heuristic design material that promotes team alignment, fosters empathy, and enables data- informed design thinking in dynamic digital design contexts.