An EEG study of the relationship between design problem statements and cognitive behaviors during conceptual design

Abstract

In the design process, different problem statements result in different problem-solving strategies. A proper problem statement is the key to effective problem-solving. Based on the characteristics of the product design process, we divided design problem statements into open-ended (OE), decision-making (DM), and constrained (CO) statements and attempted to investigate the influences of different problem statements on designers’ cognitive behaviors from three perspectives, namely divergent thinking, convergent thinking, and mental workload. Then we provided quantification description to these influences based on electroencephalography (EEG) technology. We conducted experiments on 19 participants and used the BrainProduct™ actiChamp-32 to record the EEG data. Results are as follows: (1) The higher task-related α power was found in the temporal and occipital regions in the OE task compared with that in the DM and CO tasks. The OE statement also would help designers get novel ideas by strengthening their divergent thinking. (2) In the DM and CO tasks, there was no significant difference in the impact of the brain region on convergent thinking, but activities in the left hemisphere were stronger than that in the right hemisphere. The DM and CO tasks have better performance in convergent thinking than the OE task. (3) In the CO task, the designer's mental workload is the highest and mainly related to the activation of the centroparietal and occipital regions. These findings help designers understand the design problem-solving process from the perspective of cognitive science and monitor their thinking modes in the design process so as to improve their design performance.

Review of the use of neurophysiological and biometric measures in experimental design research

“…The most evident association that emerges is the one between self-rated mental effort and the power of the EEG beta-2 frequency band (20-30 Hz). Distinct formulations of design problems are investigated in Liu et al (2018). Here, EEG is used during participants' approaching open-ended, decision-making, and constrained design statements.…”

The neural correlates of ideation in product design engineering practitioners

“…In the literature, constrained problems have been associated with convergent thought processes, where the goal is to find a 'correct' or 'optimal' solution that satisfies the constraints. Open-ended problems are frequently associated with divergent thinking, where the goal is to explore different possible solutions deriving from different problem interpretations (Goel 2014;Liu et al 2018a). Proficient designers are adept at dealing with both constrained and open-ended problems (and degrees in between); however, it is not clear whether generating solutions to these different types of problem during ideation should be expected to differ at the neural level.…”

“…In the field of design science, researchers have been studying the cognition of designers and engineers for over 60 years (Hay et al 2017a). However, neuroimaging research is only just beginning to emerge in this area, with a limited number of studies applying functional near-infrared spectroscopy (Shealy & Gero 2019), electroencephalography (Liu et al 2018a;Nguyen, Nguyen & Zeng 2018;Vieira et al 2019), and functional magnetic resonance imaging (Alexiou et al 2009;Sylcott, Cagan & Tabibnia 2013;Goucher-Lambert, Moss & Cagan 2017, 2019. To advance knowledge about the neural basis of PDE ideation, in this paper we present results from a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study of ideation in professional product design engineers.…”

Comparing the Design Neurocognition of Mechanical Engineers and Architects: A Study of the Effect of Designer’s Domain

“…Design neurocognition EEG-based studies are emerging at an exploratory stage with a few reported domain-specific studies on engineering design, architecture and industrial design. Results from controlled experiments identify the relationship between design problem statements and cognitive behaviors during conceptual design (Liu et al, 2018), visual attention and association in expert designers (Liang et al, 2018), neurophysiological EEG signals to study effort, fatigue and concentration in conceptual design (Nguyen et al, 2016), EEG bands associated with the design activities of problem solving and evaluation (Liu et al, 2016), neurophysiological correlates of embodiment and motivational factors during the perception of virtual architecture (Vecchiato et al, 2015). However, time-related neural responses during problem-solving compared to design tasks across domains are as yet unknown.…”