DRS2012 Bangkok Proceedings Vol 4 - Design Research Society

2070 Conference Proceedings
DRS 2012 Bangkok
Chulalongkorn University
Bangkok, Thailand, 1–4 July 2012
Heuristic Use in Different Types of Design
Tasks
Seda YILMAZ a and Colleen SEIFERT b
a Iowa State University
b University of Michigan
Abstract
This paper explores the use of Design Heuristics as cognitive strategies in idea generation,
and how designers’ preferences in heuristic use may change between redesign and novel
design problems. In previous work, we found evidence for specific Design Heuristics that
support the exploration of the design space, leading to the generation of varied and
creative solutions (Yilmaz & Seifert, 2009; Yilmaz, Seifert, & Gonzalez, 2010). This paper
presents a new empirical study analyzing the protocols of six professional industrial
designers, and the sequences of sketches generated in two differing design tasks. The
results show evidence of frequent Design Heuristic use, and their involvement in generating
diverse, creative, and practical concepts. Further, the study reveals some differences
between designers’ behavior in the two types of design problems.
Keywords: design heuristics, ideation, creativity