Design Process and Issues

Orcun and Desmet studied how design can support wellbeing via a case study conducted during the pandemic with young adults and produced a related toolkit which they named “Unravel.” The researchers report that “The current project adopted a humanistic perspective, which starts from the idea that all people have a natural drive for personal growth, and that the ultimate goal of living is to realize one’s full potential—to be all one can fully be (see, Tay & Diener, 2011).

Wigert and teammates probed core elements of the creative process.  They report that “The process of problem construction is known to be a critical influence on creative problem-solving. The current study assessed the utility of different problem construction methods used to maximize creativity during the creative process. An experimental design was used to explore the interplay between convergent and divergent thinking processes.

Franconeri, Padilla, Shah, Zacks, and Hullman (in a study published in Psychological Science in the Public Interest) report on their research into how to share data with others. Their recommendations for sending messages via data visualizations include: “Understand how starting axes at zero might not always be the best option because it can mask relevant data patterns or create the illusion of patterns that do not reflect reality. . . .

Obeidat and Jaradat found that it’s desirable to include human figures in digitally visualized architectural spaces.  More details: “The use of human figures throughout the design process enables designers to experience, communicate, and evaluate design concepts. . . . an experimental study was conducted with first-year architecture students, in which they experienced three architectural scenes (non-presence of VHR [virtual human representation], presence of idle VHR, and presence of animated VHR).

Lin investigated how illustrations are evaluated.  Findings from the completed study include: “Although the aesthetic experience of popular illustrations is frequent in modern life, no scientific research can fully explain its psychological structure so far. This study aims to develop an aesthetic model of perception, affection, and cognition, presenting an aesthetic psychological framework for contemporary popular illustration. Thirty representative illustrations were selected as experimental stimuli from design media. . . .

Researchers have evaluated what people from different cultures categorize as creative.  Data were gathered from people from Russia and the United Arab Emirates.  Kharkhurin and colleagues found that “The concept of creativity varies by culture. . . . Creative daring . . . appears to be a key feature of creativity in the Western, but not in the Eastern tradition.  . . .