S206E056 – Fall 2015
S206E056: Design Thinking and Cognition, Fall 2015
Tianjin University
2 Credits, 24 course hours
Instructor:
Email address:
WWW course page:
Meeting time & place:
Chiu-Shui Chan, Ph.D., Professor of Architecture/ISU/VRAC/HCI
cschan@iastate.edu
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~cschan/235/TU_Cognition.html
December 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29 @ Rm. 107, West Bldg.
If you have any conditions such as a physical or mental disability which would make it difficult for
you to carry out the work as I have outlined below, or which would require extra time on the final project,
please notify me in the first two weeks of the course so that I can make appropriate accommodations.
1. Background:
Design thinking processes have been studied since the 1970s on exploring the intellectual phenomena
occurring while designers do design. These intellectual phenomena include the formation of intelligence,
operation of knowledge, and actions to be taken for implementation; which are the cognitive activities
explored in the field of psychology. During these years, the processes involved with psychological
activities had been recognized as a special cognitive domain with special behaviors, named “design
cognition”.
Design cognition focuses on the processes and psychological phenomena of how humans understand,
process, store, retrieve, and recycle design related knowledge that lead to the creation of a design. These
design processes and cognitive phenomena are not only different from other domains, but also are the
unique forces that turn design conceptual schemes into physical artifacts. Behind these psychological
activities, there exist certain forces that create certain “recognizable features” in design products. These
features would be recognized through perception to categorize the product as an “individual style.”
Behind these psychological phenomena, there are other cognitive forces that trigger the creation of a
unique design product. A unique design has the following character: that it is valuable, the act of creating
it is original, and it is performed with special mental abilities which attribute creativity. Thus, creative
products must be the works of initial and original creations. Outstanding creative works are generally
treated as culturally influential, publicly recognizable, and socially beneficial products. Therefore,
creativity and style are the two important cognitive factors affecting design products and influencing
civilization. If these cognitive aspects and factors could be understood, then the individual style and
human creativity could be consciously improved accordingly to improve design qualities.
2. Objectives:
How do designers think? What makes a designer creative and successful? In the field of design studies,
research on the cognitive phenomena occurring during the design processes is ongoing in order to answer
these questions. This experimental course will introduce all the current theories developed in this field.
The factors driving the design process, and allowing for solutions to design problems, will be explored,
and the products of design cognition shown in style and creativity will be covered in some detail. All
these phenomena: design cognition, individual style, design creativity, and the new area of user centered
design; will be explored through a number of case studies.
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S206E056 – Fall 2015
3. Expected Outcome:
Students are expected to learn enough information regarding design thinking, and obtain better
understanding regarding the factors that generate style and the origins of creativity. By the end of the
class, it is expected that students could apply the learned knowledge to further implement the skills in
their upper level design studios.
4. Assignments:
There will be in-class exercises (20 points) plus a final project (80 points), which has the following
requirements.
•
You should apply the concepts introduced in lectures to work on a study of a selected architect.
You could choose one master architect; analyze the master architects’ five projects, explain the
following items: (1) their problem solving methods used in the design projects, (2) why their
designs products are stylistic, or (3) why their works are regarded as so creative. The final paper
should be 4 pages long of a short essay with appropriate photos and bibliography attached.
•
A draft or outline of the final paper should be prepared in PowerPoint and presented on 12/29.
•
Your final version should be completed and submitted to me through email: cschan@iastate.edu
by January 10th, 2015. Should you have any questions, email me.
5. Textbook and Suggested Reading:
1. Design cognition:
•
•
C. S. Chan (2008). Design Cognition: Cognitive Science in Design, Beijing: China
Architecture & Building Press.
C. S. Chan, (2015). Style and Creativity in Design, Studies in Applied Philosophy,
Epistemology and Rational Ethics, Volume 17, Springer: Switzerland. ISBN: 978-3-31914016-2
2. Design thinking:
•
•
•
C. Eastman, (2001). New directions in design cognition: Studies of representation and
recall. In C. Eastman, M. McCracken & W. Newsteller (Eds.), Design knowing and
learning (pp. 147-198), Amsterdam: Elsevier.
B. Lawson, (2006) “How Designers Think: The design process demystified. Amsterdam:
Elsevier, ISBN: 978-0-7506-6077-8.
N. Cross, (2011) “Design Thinking: Understanding How Designers Think and Work.”
Oxford: Berg, ISBN: 978-1-84788-636-1 (paperback).
3. Design methodology:
• N. Cross, (1984), Developments in Design Methodology, New York: John Wiley & Sons.
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S206E056 – Fall 2015
4. Problem solving theory in all fields:
• J. R. Hayes (1989). The Complete Problem Solver, Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates.
• C. S. Chan (1990). Cognitive processes in architectural design problem solving. Design
Studies, 60-80.
5. Style and creativity:
• C. S. Chan, (1992) Exploring individual style through Wright’s design. Journal of
Architectural and Planning Research, 14(1), 52-77.
• C. S. Chan, (2000) Can style be measured? Design Studies, 21:3, 277-291.
• C. S. Chan, (2001) An examination of the forces that generate a style. Design Studies,
22:4, 319-346.
6. User centered design in all fields:
• D. Norman (1988). The Design of Everyday Things, New York: Basic Books.
• H. Petroski (1990). The Pencil: A history of design and circumstance, New York: Knopf.
6. Course Outlines by hours (tentative schedule):
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Module 1: Design thinking
Module 2: Problem solving
Module 3: Design methodology
Module 4: Style
Module 5: Creativity
Module 6: Phenomenology
Course introduction.
Historical development of design thinking.
Concept of cognition -- perception, attention, Gestalt psychology
Concept of design cognition -- association & knowledge formation
Problem solving theory -- basic concept.
Problem solving theory in design.
Methods to study problem solving -- protocol analysis.
Case study of problem solving in design -- protocol analysis
Methods to study problem solving -- retrospection, and interview.
Design methodologies -- analog, parti, metaphor
Concept of representation.
Style -- definition and concept of style
Style in fine arts products -- Ven Goch and Vemeer's painting style.
Style in products -- case study on Frank Lloyd Wright
Style in processes -- a psychological experiment.
Style identification
Creativity in design -- definition and concept of creativity
Case study on Otto Wagner
Case study on Renzo Piano
Case study on Tado Ando
Phenomenology in design -- Case study on Steven Holl
Rhythm in design – Alva Aalto
Group design -- Future studies
Final presentation
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S206E056 – Fall 2015
7. Course calendar:
Su
M
12/20/2015
12/21/2015
Tu
W
Th
12/22/2015
12/23/2015
12/24/2015
Design Thinking
西樓107, 811:30am
12/27/2015
Design Thinking
西樓107, 6:009:45pm
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12/28/2015
12/29/2015
Design Thinking
西樓107, 811:30am
Design Thinking
西樓107, 6:009:45pm
12/30/2015
12/31/2015
F
Sa
12/25/2015
12/26/2015
Design Thinking
西樓107, 811:30am
1/1/2016
Design Thinking
西樓107, 6:009:45pm
1/2/2016