Author(s)

Y.-c. Chiang

Abstract

The view of design as a kind of problem-solving activity has been an important base in the study of design cognition. Most of time, the researchers identify design problems as design briefs. But recently, some results of protocol analysis have implicated that design problems are not only about the briefs and need not exist at the beginning of design. This paper studied the roles of design problems in design thinking by protocol analysis. The results show that there are two kinds of problems which occur in the design process: one is related to the brief, and the other is about designer’s intention. The advanced study has been focused on the differences of the thinking mechanisms of these two kinds of problem. Keywords: design problem, design thinking, design cognition, protocol analysis. 1 Introduction For a long time, design has been regarded as a kind of problem-solving activity. From the early researches on design methods and methodologies to the lateral design cognition studies, this viewpoint has been the common base. What is more, design problem is defined as the brief of design, which is usually induced to the functional requirements. However, some results of protocol analyses have showed that design problems are not only about the briefs and need not to exist at the beginning of design. These phenomena indicate that the contents and meanings of design problems in real design are different from what the problemsolving theory has claimed. The former is some kind of fact from thinking report, and the later is determined by definition. Not from a prescriptive consideration but a phenomenon study, this paper aims to clarify the differences so as to investigate the thinking characteristics of design problems.

Keywords

design problem, design thinking, design cognition, protocol analysis.