DS-Viz: a systematic method for visualizing design spaces

Much of design research is framed around the idea of ‘spaces:’ problems, solutions, alternatives, concepts, knowledge and even design itself have all been seen as occupying spaces. Visualizing design spaces, understanding their configuration and how designers explore and expand them, can yield valuable insights into design processes. This paper reports a novel method for creating Design Space Visualizations, a method we call DS-Viz. This allows researchers to create 2D and 3D representations of design spaces from multidimensional descriptions of design ideas. Using data from a study of 30 participants completing a game-based design activity, we show how DS-Viz can be used to investigate designers’ behavior during their design processes. By analyzing two additional datasets from a more open ideation task and a more closed parametric design task, we also demonstrate how the method can be applied to different design contexts. We discuss how DS-Viz can support the creation of design space visualizations enabling researchers to derive metrics related to designers’ explorations. Further to its potential use in research, we highlight the possible benefits of employing the visualizations created with DS-Viz to provide designers’ with feedback in educational and professional contexts.