Creativity in the Design Process: Cognitive Actions and Conceptual Transformations

This research explores the relationship between creativity and cognitive actions in a design process that cause conceptual expansion and shift to understand how creative insights develop. The research was conducted with 25 participants using the think-aloud protocol who were given a design problem to solve. Linkographic entropies were obtained from the verbal data of design sessions to determine critical moves (CM) and their associated design decisions. CM networks were then coded using Function-Behaviour-Structure (FBS) ontology to determine design actions, and semantic analysis was used to determine the design transformation types. The results showed that conceptual shift is only achieved through Synthesis, while conceptual expansions serve as a base for conceptual shifts. Cognitive actions such as reformulations and evaluations were found to cause conceptual expansions and contribute to conceptual shifts at different levels. The distance between knowledge sets used during cognitive actions influences the effectiveness and types of conceptual transformations. The research concludes that Formulation and Analysis do not contribute to conceptual transformations. The research provides insights into the cognitive processes underlying design creativity and can inform design education and practice.