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1. Investigating Information: A Qualitative Analysis of Expert Designers’ Information Representation and Structuring Behaviors

   https://doi.org/10.1115/DETC2019-98362  

   Damen, Nicole B.; Toh, Christine A. (August 2019, International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference)

   Abstract Information organization and utilization are integral to the design and development of creative ideas. However, navigating this often complex information space can be challenging, even for experienced designers. Therefore, deep analysis of how expert designers utilize and organize information is needed to provide qualitative insights into their information organization strategies. To address this, four professionals in the software design and development field were recruited for individual 3-hour design sessions. They were asked to generate ideas for a design challenge (reducing distraction-based pedestrian accidents) using information sheets specifically developed to contain different types of information, as identified by prior work. Results reveal individual differences in information approach and categorization, although these were motivated by similar underlying patterns of evaluating the relevance of information for its ability to inform the project constraints, resources or (user) requirements. Designer experience and use of design processes and knowledge transfer tools enhanced their ability to turn information into insights. 

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2. From Information to Ideas: How Designers Structure Information to Support Idea Generation

   https://doi.org/10.1115/DETC2020-22527  

   Damen, Nicole B.; Toh, Christine A. (August 2020, International Design Engineering Technical Conferences)

   null (Ed.)

   Design can be seen as a series of decisions that are informed by information that the designer has gathered from the environment and transformed into actionable knowledge. The sheer volume and variety of available information compels designers to impose structure upon the desired information, which in turn may affect subsequent design activities. To better understand how information may inform design decisions, this study investigates the relationship between designers’ information organization behaviors and their generated ideas by recruiting eight professionals (four from software design and four from graphic design) for individual 3-hour design sessions. They were asked to generate ideas for a design problem (reducing pedestrian accidents in Nebraska) using the provided information. Results reveal that designers structured the information in three different ways (Clusters, Relations, and Nests), and both designer background and organizational strategy display different roles in the features generated in their ideas. 

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3. Knowing and Designing: Understanding Information Use in Open Source Design Through the Lens of Information Archetypes

   https://doi.org/10.24251/HICSS.2018.511  

   Lumbard, K. (January 2018, Proceedings of the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences)

   The early phases of the product design process are crucial to the success of design outcomes. While information utilized during idea development has tremendous potential to impact the final design, there is a lack of understanding about the types of information utilized in industry, making it challenging to develop and teach methodologies that support the design of competitive products. As a first step in understanding this process, this study focuses on developing a framework of Information Archetypes utilized by designers in industry. This was accomplished through in-depth analysis of qualitative interviews with large software engineering companies. The results reveal two archetypes of information utilized by decision-makers within these companies during the development of new products and services. The findings of this study allow for future research that investigates the role of information during the product design process. 

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4. Special Issue: Emerging Technologies and Methods for Early-Stage Product Design and Development

   https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4056744  

   Moghaddam, Mohsen; Marion, Tucker; Holtta-Otto, Katja; Fu, Kate; Olechowski, Alison; McComb, Christopher (April 2023, Journal of Mechanical Design)

   Moghaddam, Mohsen; Marion, Tucker; Holtta-Otto, Katja; Fu, Kate; Olechowski, Alison; McComb, Christopher (Ed.)

   The early-stage product design and development (PDD) process fundamentally involves the processing, synthesis, and communication of a large amount of information to make a series of key decisions on design exploration and specification, concept generation and evaluation, and prototyping. Although most current PDD practices depend heavily on human intuition, advances in computing, communication, and human–computer interaction technologies can transform PDD processes by combining the creativity and ingenuity of human designers with the speed and precision of computers. Emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and extended reality (XR) stand to substantially change the way designers process information and make decisions in the early stages of PDD by enabling new methods such as natural language processing, generative modeling, cloud-based virtual collaboration, and immersive design and prototyping. These new technologies are unlikely to render the human designer obsolete, but rather do change the role that the human designer plays. Thus, it is essential to understand the designer's role as an individual, a team, and a group that forms an organization. The purpose of this special issue is to synthesize the state-of-the-art research on technologies and methods that augment the performance of designers in the front-end of PDD—from understanding user needs to conceptual design, prototyping, and development of systems architecture while also emphasizing the critical need to understand the designer and their role as well. 

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5. An in‑depth investigation of student information gathering meetings with stakeholders and domain experts

   https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/s10798-020-09595-w  

   Loweth, R. P.; Daly, S.; Hortop, A.; Strehl, E.; Sienko, K. (January 2020, International journal of technology and design education)

   Information gathering activities in engineering design projects play an important role in the identification and definition of stakeholder needs and requirements. However, few studies have explored how students gather information from stakeholders and domain experts in capstone design settings. In this study, we analyzed audio recordings from 19 information gathering meetings submitted by six capstone design teams to investigate how student designers gathered information during these meetings. Our findings include 22 information gathering behaviors that student design teams exhibited during their meetings, half of which were more similar to recommended best practices for information gathering and half of which were less similar. Our findings, including the list of behaviors and associated examples, may be used to guide student designers in employing effective information gathering approaches. 

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