An empirical study of the inspiration sources of undergraduated design students

摘要

During the early stages of the design process, designers ask a number of fundamental questions, such as what is the true nature of the problem? Are there any prior solutions that we can learn from? Are there other problems similar to this one? In addressing these questions, designers draw upon the skills and techniques they have gained over time. One particular design technique they commonly rely on, as mentioned previously, is their use of precedents within and between the discipline they operate, as a means of investigation and source of inspiration in their design synthesis tasks. The importance of design inspiration sources (e.g design cases) and the way designers utilise them during their designing activities is thus well documented [1,2].