E n D ®

Seeîng-as
The objective use of personal and social knowledge is not only
structured and motivated, it accounts for what is generally
understood as 'intuition'within design activity. Schön called
this'seeing-as' (Schön 1967} and while rarely acknowledged
it may be the single most important aspect of reflection-in­
action.'Seeing-as'accounts for the recognition of phenomena
as information, the identification of patterns or similarities and
the generation of meaning above and beyond the meaning of
individual elements or concepts through a shift in perception
(Schön & Wiggins 1992:135).
Seeing-as begins with 'sensing similarity' or mapping one
concept or description onto another in response to an
'immersion trigger'. Well before the basis of this similarity is
established,thedeslgnerattendstothisfeeling as information.
'Sensing similarity' is generative when it involves concepts
which are usually perceived as dissimilar or from different
domains so that 'one thing has the capacity to change
everything you know about the second and visa versa' (Schön
1983:1984-85). What has previously been understood as
intuition or imagination İs İn fact the 'judgments embodied
In acts of seeing' or altered perception (Schön & Wiggins
1992:137). Interpreting informal and unorthodox information
as design knowledge through sensing similarity between
different domains is essential for altered perception. Seeing-
as, is therefore, a form of domain-independent knowledge
which enables designers to move from 'chaos to clarity' in the
absence of domain specific knowledge.
Novice design activity
It is often noted that Schon's model of reflective practice
resonates more with design practitioners than models of
'rational problem solving'(DorstS( Dijkhuis 1995}. Yetthecentral
role ofthe designer's appreciative system in the early phases
of design activity has been largely ignored. The excepts used in
this paper to support the contemporary re-reading of Schon's
theory are based on an 'intrinsic case study' (Stake 2000:437}
of a novice design student studying within an Integrated
cross discipline tertiary design degree over a semester. This
unique program exposed the novice designer Halle to a range
of design domains including the spatial, object, and graphic
design studios. The study focused on Halle's experience of
design activity not the creativity of her design outcomes.
Several key patterns emerged within her design activity, which
are common to al! three studios across multiple briefs. These
emergent categories help exemplify the central role of the
designer's appreciative system within design activity.
Halle entered university directly following high school. Halle's
parents and step-parents are 'arty and musical' and she
Identifies with this creative legacy. For instance, she is proud
that she sings In the alternative choir they helped found,
and writes and performs her own music. This informs Halle's
design activity with a strong sense of self-determination,
independence and confidence.
Halle Is motivated by differentiating her ideas from her
peers admitting 'I don't like the idea of making something
that I am not going to like and really sort of feel like "that's
not mine"' She resists doing things that she 'has to do' or in
the way 'they' want her to, and prefers choices based on her
personal interests. Halle wants Ideas to 'have quiet a lot of
information'embedded in them so that they are not'obvious'.
Halles believes that her design activity begins chaotically
but is clarified by developing 'random things, that could be
anything, and that's how my mind will start working out what
I am going to do, and how 1 am going to do It'.
Random ideas
One ofthe most elucidating aspects of Halle's design activity
is her pervasive belief that her design concepts are based
on 'random ideas' which she defines as 'things that seem
unrelated or out of place'. Random ideas are a spontaneous
response to a brief, often based on visual or verbal stimulus
within her immediate vicinity. Although her attention is
almost always drawn to something associated with her
personal interests and memories, these connections are
'tacit'. Halle's belief that her Ideas are 'random' enables her
to be surprised. In fact Halle's initial response to a brief sets
up what she attends to. When give a brief to design a box to
hold'memories', Halle thought of a'mousetrap'that'snaps'on
memories. Her initial response however, was an appreciation
ofthe brief, based on an aversion to one ofthe design criteria,
which called for an examination of'surface and texture':