Background Problem exploration includes identifying, framing, and defining design problems and bounding problem spaces. Intentional and unintentional changes in problem understanding naturally occur as designers explore design problems to create solutions. Through problem exploration, new perspectives on the problem can emerge along with new and diverse ideas for solutions. By considering multiple problem perspectives varying in scope and focus, designers position themselves to increase their understandings of the “real” problem and engage in more diverse idea generation processes leading to an increasing variety of potential solutions. Purpose/Hypothesis The purpose of this study was to investigate systematic patterns in problem exploration in the early design phases of mechanical engineers. Design/Method Thirty‐five senior undergraduate students and experienced designers with mechanical engineering backgrounds worked individually following a think‐aloud protocol. They explored problems and generated solutions for two of four randomly assigned design problems. After generating solutions, participants framed and rewrote problem statements to reflect their perspectives on the design problem their solutions addressed. Thematic analysis and a priori codes guided the identification of problem exploration patterns within and across problems. Results The set of patterns in engineers' problem exploration that emerged from the analysis documents alternative strategies in exploring problems to arrive at solutions. The results provide evidence that engineering designers, working individually, apply both problem‐specific and more general strategies to explore design problems. Conclusions Our study identified common patterns in the explorations of presented problems by individual engineering designers. The observed patterns, described as Problem Exploration Perspectives, capture alternative approaches to discovering problems and taking multiple problem perspectives during design. Learning about Problem Exploration Perspectives may be helpful in creating alternative perspectives on a design problem, potentially leading to more varied and innovative solutions. This paper concludes with an extended example illustrating the process of applying Problem Exploration Perspectives to move between problem perspectives to generate varied design outcomes.

Design problems are often presented as structured briefs with detailed constraints and requirements, suggesting a fixed definition. However, past studies have identified the importance of exploring design problems for creative design outcomes. Previous protocol studies of designers has shown that problems can "co-evolve" with the development of solutions during the design process. But to date, little evidence has been provided about how designers systematically explore presented problems to create better solutions. In this study, we conducted a qualitative analysis of 252 design problems collected from publically available sources, including awardwinning product designs and open-source design competitions. This database offers an independent sample of presented problems, designers' alternative problem descriptions, and innovative solutions. We report the results of this large-scale qualitative analysis aimed at characterizing changes to problems during the design process. Inductive coding was used to identify content patterns in "discovered" problem descriptions, with qualitative codes reliably scored by two independent coders. A total of 32 distinct patterns of problem exploration were identified across designers and presented problems. Each pattern is described in the form of a generalized strategy to guide designers as they explore problem spaces. The exploration patterns identified in this study are the first empirical evidence of problem exploration in independent design problems. Further, the presence of exploration patterns in discovered problems is associated with the selection of the corresponding solution as a challenge finalist. These empirically identified strategies for problem exploration may be useful for computational tools supporting designers.

This paper explores “problem exploration heuristics,” or cognitive strategies used to identify and reframe design problem descriptions. The way a design problem is structured influences the types of ideas a designer generates; in particular, some framings may lead to more creative solutions and using multiple framings can support diverse solutions. Most existing problem exploration strategies have not been derived from empirical studies of engineering design practice. Thus, in our work, we drew upon a sample of engineering design problems and analyzed how the problem descriptions evolved during design. Examining iterations on the problem description allowed us to identify heuristics evident in designers’ recrafting of problem descriptions. Heuristics were defined based on the elements in each problem description and their perceived role in transforming the problem. We present a systematic methodology for identifying problem exploration heuristics, and describe five unique Problem Exploration Heuristics commonly observed in structuring design briefs.

focuses on strategies for design innovations through divergent and convergent thinking as well as through deep needs and community assessments using design ethnography, and translating those strategies to design tools and education. She teaches design and entrepreneurship courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels, focusing on front-end design processes.Dr. Jaclyn Kuspiel Murray, University of Michigan Jaclyn K. Murray is a Research Fellow at the University of Michigan in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Her interests include design, creativity, spatial skill development, and epistemic agency formation across STEM fields. Dr. Seda McKilligan, Iowa State UniversityDr. McKilligan is an Associate Professor of Industrial Design. She teaches design studios and lecture courses on developing creativity and research skills. Her current research focuses on identifying impacts of different factors on ideation of designers and engineers, developing instructional materials for design ideation, and foundations of innovation. She often conducts workshops on design thinking to a diverse range of groups including student and professional engineers and faculty member from different universities. She received her PhD degree in Design Science in 2010 from University of Michigan. She is also a faculty in Human Computer Interaction Graduate Program and the ISU Site Co-Director for Center for e-Design. Case Studies of Problem Exploration Processes in Engineering Design AbstractLooking beyond the presented problem can allow new perspectives to emerge, opening up the possibility of more varied solutions. Little research exists about how engineering designers engage in this process, which we call problem exploration. In a study with engineering students, each student talked aloud as they worked to create design solutions; next, we asked them to explain their problem focus and to define the problem they addressed in each solution. The protocols revealed multiple cognitive strategies used to structure and frame the presented problem in alternative ways. Further research is aimed at empirically-based design tools to support problem exploration in engineering design.

The way a design problem is structured influences the types of solutions that can be generated and may have an impact on the creativity and innovation of those solutions. Thus, this paper explores cognitive strategies used by professional engineers and designers to identify and reframe design problems. A sample of 218 problem descriptions were collected from various sources and analyzed to see how the problem definitions evolved during design. The analysis resulted in the extraction of 42 problem exploration heuristics evident in designers' re-crafting of the presented problem to inform the development of instructional materials to help improve the problem exploration skills of both engineering design students and practitioners.