Chronobiology of pupil dilation in design students during idea generation

Abstract

Chronobiology studies physiological variations due to the time of day, an unexplored factor in design research. This paper explores the effect of time of day on designers' physiological responses in idea generation. Convergent (CT) and divergent (DT) thinking, as building blocks of designing, are explored using pupil dilation as a proxy for cognitive load. Time of day and educational background are explored for engineering and industrial designers. Results show a larger pupil diameter in the afternoon than in the morning, especially for DT, with higher values for industrial designers.