Hi Patrick

i think that this article could be usefu:

Purcell, A. T., & Gero, J. S. (1996). Design and other types of fixation.
Design Studies, 17
(4), 363-383.

abstract:
Design educators often comment on the difficulties that result from a
premature commitment by students to a solution to a design problem.
Similarly practitioners can find it difficult to move away from an idea
they have developed or precedents in a field. In the psychology of problem
solving this effect is called functional fixedness or fixation. It is not
surprising that these effects should occur in design problem solving.
However, while these types of issues have been discussed in the context of
design, there has been little systematic evidence available about whether
or not and under what conditions design fixation does occur. The paper
reviews the results of a series of recent experiments which begin to
address these issues. The results of the experiments are examined in terms
of what insights they provide into the design process, what implications
they have for design education and how they relate to the larger and more
general area of human problem solving.


my notes:
Purcell and Gero's (1996) have based their research on a theory (developed
by Jansson and Smith cited in Purcell & Gero, 1996, p. 365), which proposed
that designers could use either one or both of two types of mental models
in order to solve a problem; 'object space' and 'conceptual space'. The
'object space' represents the physical representation of a problem, such as
pictures or physical models. On the other hand, the 'conceptual space'
represents "abstract knowledge about principles, concepts and rules which
can be used to solve a problem" (p. 365). It is argued that operating in
either space could produce 'fixation' in a design solution. It is also
argued that designers have to be able to overcome 'object space' fixation
in order to be able to 'move' into the 'concept space' where it is proposed
"that innovative changes an occur" (i.e. designers needs to move from the
'object space' into the 'concept space' in order to be able to produce
innovative designs). Purcell and Gero concluded that "industrial designers
appear to show no evidence of producing innovative designs". It seems that
they were not able to move into the 'conceptual space' and they were not
able to attain a 'traditional' fixation in the 'object space'. They
continue to say that the results indicate that industrial designers are
"'fixated' on difference rather than being fixated on solutions" (1996, p.
381). As a result, it could be argued that industry perceives this
inability of industrial designers to attain a 'fixation' as an inability to
produce alternative design solutions.


i hope that the above helps. best wishes, erik



At 01:01  21/01/03 +0800, Patrick Janssen wrote:
>Hi all.
>
>I am trying to find some references to an idea, and perhaps someone can
>help.
>
>The idea is that when a designer is busy designing something, very early on
>the designer will develop a fundamental "generating concept" or "generating
>idea" that frames and directs the rest of the design work. This generating
>idea may be a personal interest or inspiration, rather than a rational
>response to a particular design  brief. The generative idea is also more
>project specific than a generic design style.
>
>Broadbent talks about something like this in Design in Architecture, however
>he calls it a "preconception", which seems rather negative (1988 revised
>reprint, page 465). I am searching for references that describe this way of
>designing in a positive light.
>
>Patrick
>
>======================================
>Patrick Janssen
>Design Technology Research Centre,
>School of Design, Hong Kong Polytechnic University
>tel: (852) 2766 4924 fax: (852) 2774 5067
>======================================