Formal problem-solving and creativity techniques have repeatedly been promoted to designers by consultants and scholars. However, there has been little research about the adoption and usefulness of these techniques among practitioners. In this paper, we investigate the prominence of different design methods among design companies in Europe and North America. We interviewed 17 professional designers from companies of different orientation. We inquired about working practices and the significance of different methods and practices in everyday design work. We found that designers from industrial design as well as engineering design backgrounds relied mostly on established design methods – generally characterized as ―design thinking‖ skills – rather than on specific creativity tools. Sketching, rapid prototyping and in-house testing were typical ways for the designers to invent. We suggest that the emphasis in design creativity studies with pragmatic goals should be on studying design practice and everyday situated creativity rather than on examining isolated creative techniques per se.
ICDC2012 Glasgow
ICDC2012 Glasgow
