Act of searching and creating
Purpose of human discovery and initiation
Act of searching for new, undiscovered resources
Research new compositions, devices, or processes
Time defining problem forms conceptual structures, increases creative result
Creative imagination is worth more than mere book knowledge
Creative synthesis
"Absolutely no form which in the meaning and value of its content is not something more than the mere sum of its factors or than the mere mechanical resultant of its components" (Wilhelm Wundt)
- Combining elements to form a coherent new whole
- Possession by a whole of qualities not possessed by the parts
- Combination, as distinguished from mixture — coalescence as distinguished from coexistence — resulting in something new
Design space |
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Co-evolution of problem–solution Problem (P', P'') and Solution (S', S'') space |
Creative resultant
Individuated whole, either perceptual or ideal.
Combination of elements and acquirement of meaning through that combination and reconstruction.
Affective-volitional meaning acquired in construction.
Iterative phases
- design requirement
- design solution
Exploration in one space delineated by the data in the other space
Two-way effect of spaces
- Design requirements/solutions emergence
- Mechanism for transmit knowledge between spaces
Problem and solution space interaction can be modeled as a "quality function"
Boundary expansion of a search space during the design process
Common changes
- Design focus
- Specific makeup
Space environment changes
Quality of being suitable
- Local variable
- Changes in each phase
- Not comparable
Quality of being suitable is used to determine which design remains
Synthesis (coalescence) occurs when new ideas cannot be found
Ending conditions do not rely on the quality of being suitable
Process
Beginning event
Problem space
Pre-production
Pre-existing model or idea
Education and intelligence means to facilitate liberation of creative energy
Formulation of problem
Identification of variables (also known as a "Design brief" or "Parti")
Design requirement
Careful systematic search
Independently conceived radical breakthrough
Analysis and classification of variables
Research and selection of variables
Influence variables to adhere to non-negotiable variables
Design requirements/solutions emergence
Novel and not obvious knowledge
Conceptualize and document solutions (Problem solving)
Optimize variables which are negotiable variables
Design solution
Production
Extend the knowledge boundaries
Present and evaluate existing design
Development and improvement of solution
Test and and measure solution
Post-production
Artifact brought into existence
Implement solution into the environment
Evaluate solution and and results
Further reading
- Henri Christiaans and Kees Venselaar. Creativity in Design Engineering and the Role of Knowledge: Modelling the Expert.
- ML Maher, Reconsidering Fitness and Covergence in Co-evolutionary Design. 1999
External articles
- Urban, Wilbur M. Valuation: Its Nature and Laws, Being an Introduction to the General Theory of Value. London: S. Sonnenschein & Co., lim, 1909
- Wasson, Charles S. System Analysis, Design, and Development: Concepts, Principles, and Practices. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Interscience, 2006.
- Cross, Nigel. Designerly Ways of Knowing. London: Springer, 2006
- Evert-Jan R.G. Oppelaar, Elbert-Jan Hennipman, and Gerrit C. van der Veer. Designing for experience: the design space as search problem
- F Sanen. Mapping Problem-Space to Solution-Space Features
- Kees Dorst and Nigel Cross. Creativity in the design process: co-evolution of problem–solution.
- Paul Leska Jr. Avoiding Problem Solution Confusion January 1, 2003.