Yukari Nagai

Constructive simulation of creative concept generation process in design: a research method for difficult-to-observe design-thinking processes

In this study, we conduct a computer simulation in order to capture characteristics or patterns in the concept generation process, which may lead to the generation of a creative design idea. This approach employs a research framework called ‘constructive simulation’, which may be effective for investigating a process that is difficult to observe both internally and externally. The simulation was conducted in four phases. In Phase 1, the virtual concept generation process was constructed on a semantic network. In Phase 2, the relevance of the process was confirmed using network theory. In Phase 3, the simulation was validated using ‘synthetic verification’ which confirms the relevance of the process with another real-life phenomenon, as well as the feasibility of creating more creative design ideas. In Phase 4, the characteristics or patterns in the actual concept generation process were inferred from those of the virtual concept generation process. The results suggest that thinking patterns in which explicit and ‘inexplicit’ concepts are continuously intertwined lead to creative design ideas.

Perspectives on design creativity and innovation research

The aim of this extended editorial is to offer a perspective on design creativity and innovation research on the occasion of launching the International Journal of Design Creativity and Innovation. Thirty six members of the editorial board present their expectations, views, or opinions on the topics of the journal. All of these articles are presented in Section 2. In Section 3, summaries of the 36 articles are consolidated. This editorial also analyzes keywords from each of the articles, and the results are visualized in Section 4. The keyword analysis covers not only those words taken directly from each of the articles but also the implicit keywords that are suggested by the explicit ones. We believe this extended editorial will help the researchers, in particular young researchers, comprehend the essence of design creativity and innovation research and obtain a clue to tackle the new discipline.The aim of this extended editorial is to offer a perspective on design creativity and innovation research on the occasion of launching the International Journal of Design Creativity and Innovation. Thirty six members of the editorial board present their expectations, views, or opinions on the topics of the journal. All of these articles are presented in Section 2. In Section 3, summaries of the 36 articles are consolidated. This editorial also analyzes keywords from each of the articles, and the results are visualized in Section 4. The keyword analysis covers not only those words taken directly from each of the articles but also the implicit keywords that are suggested by the explicit ones. We believe this extended editorial will help the researchers, in particular young researchers, comprehend the essence of design creativity and innovation research and obtain a clue to tackle the new discipline.

Discussion on Direction of Design Creativity Research (Part 1) - New Definition of Design and Creativity: Beyond the Problem-Solving Paradigm

This article discusses the meanings of “design” and “creativity.” First, the authors provide a historical review of the terminologies of “design” and “creativity” used in the field of design research. On the basis of this review, they aim to formulate a fundamental perspective of design for our future society that does not focus on the notion of efficiency and is not restricted by the framework of a problem-solving process. Next, they redefine design as the process of composing a desirable figure toward the future on the basis of their classifications of design as drawing, problem solving, and pursuit of the ideal. Finally, they identify the meanings of such a new definition of design in order to find the essential areas of research for design in the future postindustrial society.

Virtual Impression Networks for Capturing Deep Impressions

In this study, we focus on deep impressions, which are defined as the impressions that are related to deep feelings towards a product and lie under surface impressions. In order to capture the nature of deep impressions, we developed a method for constructing “virtual impression networks,” which involve the notions of “structure” and “inexplicit impressions”, using a semantic network. This paper, in particular, aims at understanding the manner in which people form impressions of preference. Our results indicated that it is possible to explain the difference between feelings of “like” and “dislike” using several indicators in the network theory of virtual impression networks. The process of forming the impressions of “like” is shown to differ from that of “dislike” at a deep impression level.

METHOD OF DESIGN THROUGH STRUCTURING OF MEANINGS

This research shows a new approach and development of a design methodology, based on the perspective of meanings. In this study the design process is explored as a development of the structure of meanings. The processes of search and evaluation of meanings form the foundations of developing this structure. In order to facilitate the use and operation of the meanings, the WordNet lexical database and an existing visualization of WordNet — Visuwords — is used for the process of meaning search. The basic tool used for evaluation process is the WordNet::Similarity software, measuring the relatedness of meanings in the database. In this way it is measuring the degree of interconnections between different meanings. This kind of search and evaluation techniques are later on incorporated into our methodology of the structure of meanings to support the design process. The measures of relatedness of meanings are developed as convergence criteria for application in the processes of evaluation. Further on, the methodology for the structure of meanings developed here is used to construct meanings in a verification of product design. The steps of the design methodology, including the search and evaluation processes involved in developing the structure of the meanings, are elucidated. The choices, made by the designer in terms of meanings are supported by consequent searches and evaluations of meanings to be implemented in the designed product. In conclusion, the paper presents directions for developing and further extensions of the proposed design methodology.

Dealing With Diversity: Issues in Design Research and Design Research Methods

Design research is a timely topic, given the current movements in art and design institutions throughout the world towards articulation, conceptualization, and (academic) research, where labels such as practice-based research abound. It is also a challenging topic with many open issues concerning conceptual foundations and methodological practices. As the articles in this special issue will show, design research is marked by significant diversity in the sense that it engages researchers from many different disciplines: Philosophy, systems theory, social science, information science, architecture, and design are among the academic disciplines represented here, with all the diversity in epistemological and methodological traditions that they entail.

A METHOD TO GENERATE AND EVALUATE A CREATIVE DESIGN IDEA BY FOCUSING ON ASSOCIATIVE PROCESS

In order to support creative design, we propose an approach composed of two methods for generating creative design ideas. The first method involves generating a candidate for a highly creative design idea by focusing on the notion of “polysemy.” The second involves evaluating the generated candidate by using a virtual network. In this study, we focus on concept generation, specifically, the process of synthesizing two concepts. Furthermore, we use design idea features for representations of the design idea. We attempt to create a set of design idea features that allows the realization of highly creative ideas. For verifying the validity of the first method, we confirmed that the estimated scores of originality of all the generated candidates extrapolated the score of the base design idea.

Research Methodology for the Internal Observation of Design Thinking through the Creative Self-formation Process

Since the external observation of creative design thinking fails to grasp the designer’s inner ‘self’, this study aims to propose a method for internal observation which can be elicited during creative design thinking by extending ‘reflections’ and ‘poietiques’. This method comprises three stages: (1) the creative design practice, (2) writing of reports on the designer’s practice by the designer and a third person (art researcher), and (3) writing of another report by the designer after examining both the reports from the second stage. We applied this method to a space-designing project. The three reports were analysed, both quantitatively and qualitatively, and many observations that were not included in the previous two reports were identified in the third report. After these analyses, we confirmed that the sense of ‘self’ was formed in the third stage and that our method of internal observation was feasible.

Discussion on Direction of Design Creativity Research (Part 2) - Research Issues and Methodologies: From the Viewpoint of Deep Feelings and Desirable Figure

On the basis of our definition of design as “composing a desirable figure towards the future,” research issues and methodologies are discussed in this article. First, we point out three research issues, which we call the insideoutside issue, the issue of the abstraction process, and the back-and-forth issue. Throughout this discussion, these issues will help us to identify the significance of a conceptcomposing process (concept synthesis) that is “pushed” from the source of deep feelings. Next, these issues serve to introduce three potential methodologies of design research, namely, internal observation, computational simulation, and theoretical modeling. Further, the authors demonstrate an example of the design of a desirable motion by assuming that an emotional and creative motion extends beyond the images produced by the human ordinal imagination, which in order to resonate with the feelings residing deep within us. Finally, they indicate open issues for further discussion.

The in-depth cognitive levels of imagination of artisans and designers

This paper investigated the in-depth cognitive levels of artisans (craft artisans) and designers (design trainers) as they observed design problems (in the early stage of idea generation) during design training. A concept network method based on the associative concept dictionary was employed to extract the verbalised thoughts of four artisans and four designers. We then identified semantic relationships based on a factor analysis. We discovered that, in contrast to designers, artisans tended to activate lower in-depth cognitive levels. Our study demonstrated that artisans placed greater focus on product appearance and technical aspects, such as operation (replace, reduce, etc.) and shape (waist, body, etc.). In contrast, designers paid greater attention to the presence of issues related to surroundings, such as scene (silverware, norm, etc.) and appeal (fresh, dish, etc.). These results demonstrate that closely or remotely associated concepts correlate with shallow or in-depth cognitive levels based on creative solutions.