Analysing Design Activity

Design encompasses some of the highest cognitive abilities of human beings, including creativity, synthesis and problem solving. A substantial and varied range of research methods has been developed and adopted for the analysis of design activity, but until now it has been difficult to compare the work of different researchers using different methods. This book contains the results of an international workshop held in Delft, The Netherlands, which focused on one particular research method, that of protocol analysis. Researchers from seventeen different leading centres around the world were invited to analyse the same video recordings of designers working on an engineering product design. The 20 chapters in this book are the records of that workshop, providing rich insights into the design process and an overview of accumulated knowledge on design from these researchers. There is also a discussion of the properties and limitations of protocol analysis as a research technique for analysing design activity. The book is a substantial contribution to developing understanding of the nature of design activity, and is of value to researchers, teachers and practitioners of design.

Nigel Cross is a professor and leading international figure in the world of design research and methodology. He is a long-time member of the academic staff of the UK's pioneering, multimedia Open University, where he has been involved in developing a wide range of distance-education courses in design,. He has also held visiting appointments in The Netherlands, Australia and the USA. His research interests are principally in understanding the nature of design ability, and the development of design skill from novice to expert. Professor Cross is also editor-in-chief of Design Studies, the international journal of design research.

Henri Christiaans is a professor and Dean of the School of Design & Human Engineering at the Ulsan National Institute of Science & Technology. He is also an invited professor at the School of Architecture of University in Minho, Portugal. He has earned a master's degree in psychology and a PhD in Industrial Design Engineering.