Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2013

Publication Title

International Journal of Design Creativity and Innovation

Volume

1

Issue Number

2

First Page

109

Last Page

129

DOI

10.1080/21650349.2013.774689

Keywords

design fixation, example modality, idea generation, physical representations, pictorial representations

Disciplines

Mechanical Engineering

Abstract

Design fixation is a major concern in engineering idea generation because it restricts the solution space in which designers search for their ideas. For designers to be more creative, it is essential to mitigate their fixation. The majority of studies in the literature investigate the role of pictorial stimuli in design fixation; however, the role of examples presented in other formats, including physical prototypes, is largely unknown. This paper presents a study that compares design fixation, in novice designers, caused by pictorial and physical representations. The effects of defixating materials proposed by Linsey et al. (2010) are also investigated. The results show that physical formats cause a higher magnitude of fixation than pictorial formats; however, participants utilizing physical examples produce a greater quantity of nonredundant ideas. Consistent with prior studies, the results also indicate that the defixation materials may not facilitate mitigation of novice designers' fixation.

Comments

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in the International Journal of Design Creativity and Innovation on March 20, 2013, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/21650349.2013.774689.

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