Sources of creativity stimulation for designing the next generation of technical systems: correlations with R&D designers’ performance

Abstract

This paper presents the outcomes of an exploratory research to clarify the performance of R&D designers when involved in design task for the ideation of the next generation of a technical system. The research aims also at clarifying if creative stimuli play a role in supporting ideation after idea generativity decreases because of natural exhaustion or the emergence of fixation. The effect of precedents (singular as patents, and structural as technology evolution trends), as well as design strategies (in the form of a design procedure for inventive problem solving) on idea generation, is compared by means of an experiment involving 24 R&D Iranian engineers. Precedents demonstrated to be more effective than design strategies in supporting productivity in idea generation, while generally they are not effective enough to support the generation of candidate ideas for the next generation of a technical system with a robust repeatability. The main recorded lacks depend on the capabilities of creative stimuli to support the generation of novel ideas, as they are generally effective in providing good results with reference to technical plausibility and relevance for a target audience. The results of the experiment are also discussed with reference to the efficiency of the design process (number of generated ideas per time unit). The outcomes of such studies, as part of a broader research objective, serve as input to support the development of a serious game to support R&D engineers to face design tasks for the next generation of technical systems with higher motivation and engagement, providing them with an improved design experience.

A model for fostering creativity in the product development process

“…Some of the concepts in the present model are not unique and other authors may be used, as for example, in the case of heuristics. Regarding those items, some important work has been also developed by e.g., Belski (2009), Yilmaz et al (2010), Saliminamin et al (2019). In this case, the paper focus on the heuristics selected to present the model to the students (novices) and proposed by Goldenberg and Mazursky (2002).…”

Do All Creative Stimuli Work the Same? Insights From a Workshop With Professionals

“…All the above-mentioned studies aimed at triggering some analogies by exposing the recipient to prior solutions and/or examples of ideas and concepts. On the other hand, literature also presents stimuli referring to more general design heuristics or hints of solution characteristics, such as technical trends of evolution as for Saliminamin et al (2019). The latter, collect sets of solutions that share one common characteristic (e.g.…”

“…These stimuli therefore, are not simply stimulating with examples of solutions as the commonalities among the solutions set are the stimulating factors. As described above, literature presents several contributions about the administration of stimuli such as design strategies, examples, precedents (Saliminamin et al, 2019), which are elements belonging to the solution space (Dorst and Cross, 2001). There are fewer studies on the effects of stimuli based on the typical elements of the problem space.…”

“…Stimuli can be, therefore, characterized according to the four-quadrant diagram. SCAMPER (Eberle, 2008), TRIZ models of contradictions, TRIZ Ideal Final Result and Resources (Baldussu et al, 2011, Cascini, 2012and Saliminamin et al, 2019, natural sources of inspiration as biological strategies (Kennedy, 2018) and patents (Fu et al, 2013) were selected as sources of stimuli. In this case, natural sources of inspiration as biological strategies and patents were classified as concrete stimuli.…”

Extracting and Analysing Design Process Data from Log Files of ICT Supported Co-Creative Sessions

“…Shah et al, 2003) here referable to #Asset and #Variant; duration of sessions (e.g. Saliminamin et al, 2018) and frequency of the design moves (Kan and Gero, 2009) which here respectively point to #Time and #Effectiveness. Moreover, the data collected allow for a preliminary estimation of the effectiveness of the interaction with the GUI by co-designers, which is an (in)direct evidence of the impact of the technology on the design process (#HCI_GUI), which looks into a similar direction of what Rahimian and Ibrahim (2011) observed.…”