Richard Gonzalez
Center Director, Research Center for Group Dynamics, Institute for Social Research
Director, BioSocial Methods Collaborative, RCGD
Amos N Tversky Collegiate Professor, Psychology and Statistics, LSA
Professor of Marketing, Stephen M Ross School of Business
Professor of Integrative Systems and Design, College of Engineering
| E-mail: | Email Richard Gonzalez |
| Address: | Research Center for Group Dynamics Institute for Social Research University of Michigan 426 Thompson Street Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 |
| Phone: | 734-647-6785 |
Teaching concept generation to engineers
We show how our heuristic techniques help engineering designers explore the concept space to achieve more novel solutions and explore the problem/solution space more effectively.
Daly, S., Yilmaz, S., Christian, J., Seifert, C., & Gonzalez, R. (2012). Design heuristics in engineering concept generation. Journal of Engineering Education, 101, 601-629. PDF
Received the American Educational Research Association Division I (Education in the Professions) Outstanding 2012 Publication Award
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Innovation in design depends on successful concept generation. The ideation stage of design is intended to produce multiple, varied concepts from which to develop and choose. Often, instruction on idea generation methods is not offered in engineering classes; however, when taught, it is com- monly through techniques like brainstorming, which lacks specific ways to generate designs. Further, existing ideation strategies are not based on evidence from designers or rigorous testing through empirical studies.
PURPOSE
This study investigated how engineering students and practitioners generated ideas. We focused on how designers used product characteristics to define concepts, and how previous concepts were trans- formed into new solutions by modifying their characteristics. Our methodology is based on our pre- vious work identifying Design Heuristics in engineering solutions, defined as cognitive prompts that facilitate exploration of multiple designs during concept generation.
METHOD
Think-aloud recordings and concept sketches were collected from 36 engineering students and prac- titioners (with varying levels of experience) as they generated ideas for a novel design task in a labo- ratory setting. These data, along with retrospective interviews, were analyzed for the ideation strate- gies evident in the participants’ solutions.
RESULTS
This study revealed evidence for over 60 strategies for concept generation during the ideation stage. Participants generated novel concepts and proposed concept modifications, and specific Design Heuristics were observed in their designs. The results suggest instruction on Design Heuristics can aid in effective idea generation.
CONCLUSIONS
This protocol study of engineering designers provides a collection of heuristics observed in practice that offers new methods for students and practitioners to explore design spaces. The Design Heuristics identified in this and previous work can potentially be learned and then incorporated into the practice of engineering students and practitioners.
