by Nigel Cross
In order to cope with the uncertainty of dealing with ill-defined problems, a designer has to have the self-confidence to define, redefine and change the problem as given, in the light of solutions that emerge in the very process of designing. People who prefer the certainty of structured, well-defined problems will never appreciate the delight of being a designer!
Sources
Full references are included in the Bibliography.
Robin Adams et al.: Educating Effective Engineering Designers, Design Studies.
Saeema Ahmed et al.: Understanding the Differences Between How Novice and Experienced Designers Approach Design Tasks, Research in Engineering Design.
Cindy Atman et al.: Comparing Freshman and Senior Engineering Design Processes, Design Studies.
Linden Ball et al.: Design Requirements, Epistemic Uncertainty and Solution Development Strategies in Software Design, Design Studies. See also Ball and Ormerod: Structured and Opportunistic Processing in Design, International Journal of Human-Computer Studies.
Hubert Dreyfus: quoted by Bryan Lawson and Kees Dorst, in Design Expertise.
Anders Ericsson: Expertise, in The MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences, and Attaining Excellence Through Deliberate Practice, in The Pursuit of Excellence Through Education.
Howard Gardner: Frames of Mind.
Vinod Goel and Jordan Grafman: Role of the Right Prefrontal Cortex in Ill-structured Planning, Cognitive Neuropsychology.
Christopher Jones: Design Methods.
Bryan Lawson: What Designers Know and How Designers Think.
Peter Lloyd and Peter Scott: Difference in Similarity, Planning and Design.
Pirita Seitamaa-Hakkarainen and Kai Hakkarainen: Composition and Construction in Experts’ and Novices’ Weaving Design, Design Studies.
Herbert Simon: The Sciences of the Artificial.
Bibliography
Adams, R., Turns, J. and Atman, C. (2003) Educating Effective Engineering Designers: The Role of Reflective Practice, Design Studies, Vol. 24, 275–294
Ahmed, S., Wallace, K. and Blessing, L. (2003) Understanding the Differences Between How Novice and Experienced Designers Approach Design Tasks, Research in Engineering Design, Vol. 14, 1–11
Akin, Ö. and Lin, C. (1995) Design Protocol Data and Novel Design Decisions, Design Studies, Vol. 16, 211–236, and in Cross, N., Christiaans, H. and Dorst, K. (eds) Analysing Design Activity, Chichester: Wiley
Atman, C., Cardella, M., Turns, J. and Adams, R. (2005) Comparing Freshman and Senior Engineering Design Processes: An In-depth Follow-up Study, Design Studies, Vol. 26, 325–357
Atman, C., Chimka, J., Bursic, K. and Nachtman, H. (1999) A Comparison of Freshman and Senior Engineering Design Processes, Design Studies, Vol. 20, 131–152
Ball, L. and Ormerod, T. (1995) Structured and Opportunistic Processing in Design: A Critical Discussion, International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, Vol. 43, 131–151
Ball, L., Onarheim, B. and Christensen, B. (2010) Design Requirements, Epistemic Uncertainty and Solution Development Strategies in Software Design, Design Studies, Vol. 31, 567–589
Brereton, M., Cannon, D., Mabogunje, A., and Leifer, L. (1996) Collaboration in Design Teams: How Social Interaction Shapes the Product, in N. Cross, H. Christiaans and K. Dorst (eds) Analysing Design Activity, Chichester: Wiley
Bucciarelli, L. (1994) Designing Engineers, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
Candy, L. and Edmonds, E. (1996) Creative Design of the Lotus Bicycle, Design Studies, Vol. 17, 71–90
Christiaans, H. (1992) Creativity in Design: The Role of Domain Knowledge in Design, Utrecht: Lemma
Christiaans, H. and Dorst, K. (1992) Cognitive Models in Industrial Design Engineering: A Protocol Study, in D. Taylor and D. Stauffer (eds), Design Theory and Methodology, New York: American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Cross, N., Christiaans, H. and Dorst, K. (1994) Design Expertise Amongst Student Designers, Journal of Art and Design Education, Vol. 13, 39–56
Cross, N., Christiaans, H. and Dorst, K. (eds) (1996) Analysing Design Activity, Chichester: Wiley
Darke, J. (1979) The Primary Generator and the Design Process, Design Studies, Vol. 1, 36–44
Davies, R. (1985) A Psychological Enquiry into the Origination and Implementation of Ideas, MSc Thesis, Department of Management Sciences, University of Manchester
Davies, R. and Talbot, R. (1987) Experiencing Ideas: Identity, Insight and the Imago, Design Studies, Vol. 8, 17–25
Dong, A. (2005) The Latent Semantic Approach to Studying Design Team Communication, Design Studies, Vol. 26, 445–461
Dorst, K. and Cross, N. (2001) Creativity in the Design Process: Co-evolution of Problem-solution, Design Studies, Vol. 22, 425–437
Dreyfus, H., quoted in B. Lawson and K. Dorst (2009) Design Expertise, Oxford: Architectural Press/Elsevier
Ericsson, K. A. (1999) Expertise, in R. Wilson and F. Keil (eds) The MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
Ericsson, K. A. (2001) Attaining Excellence Through Deliberate Practice: Insights from the Study of Expert Performance, in M. Ferrari (ed.), The Pursuit of Excellence Through Education, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum
Gardner, H. (1983) Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences, London: Heinemann
Gedenryd, H. (1998) How Designers Work, PhD Thesis, Department of Cognitive Science, Lund University, Sweden
Goel, V. (1995) Sketches of Thought, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
Goel, V. and Grafman, J. (2000) Role of the Right Prefrontal Cortex in Ill-structured Planning, Cognitive Neuropsychology, Vol. 17, 415–436
Goldschmidt, G. (1995) The Designer as a Team of One, Design Studies, Vol. 16, 189–209, and in N. Cross, H. Christiaans and K. Dorst (eds) Analysing Design Activity, Chichester: Wiley
Guindon, R. (1990) Designing the Design Process: Exploiting Opportunistic Thoughts, Human-Computer Interaction, Vol. 5, 305–344
Günther, J., Frankenberger, E. and Auer, P. (1996) Investigation of Individual and Team Design Processes, in N. Cross, H. Christiaans and K. Dorst (eds), Analysing Design Activity, Chichester: Wiley
Jones, J. C. (1992) Design Methods, Chichester: Wiley
Lawson, B. (1994) Design In Mind, Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann
Lawson, B. (2004) What Designers Know, Oxford: Architectural Press/Elsevier
Lawson, B. (2006) How Designers Think, Oxford: Architectural Press/Elsevier
Levin, P. (1966) Decision Making in Urban Design, Watford, UK: Building Research Establishment
Lloyd, P., Lawson, B. and Scott, P. (1995) Can Concurrent Verbalization Reveal Design Cognition? Design Studies, Vol. 16, 237–259, and in N. Cross, H. Christiaans and K. Dorst (eds) (1996), Analysing Design Activity, Chichester: Wiley
Lloyd, P. and Scott, P. (1995) Difference in Similarity: Interpreting the Architectural Design Process, Planning and Design, Vol. 22, 383–406
Lloyd, P. and Snelders, D. (2003) What was Philippe Starck thinking of? Design Studies, Vol. 24, 237–253
Maccoby, M. (1991) The Innovative Mind at Work, IEEE Spectrum, December, 23–35
March, L. (1976) The Logic of Design, in The Architecture of Form, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Murray, D. (1993) An Ethnographic Study of Graphic Designers, in G. de Michelis and C. Simone (eds), European Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work, Dordrecht: Kluwer
Radcliffe, D. (1996) Concurrency of Actions, Ideas and Knowledge Displays Within a Design Team, in N. Cross, H. Christiaans and K. Dorst (eds), Analysing Design Activity, Chichester: Wiley
Rowe, P. (1987) Design Thinking, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
Roy, R. (1993) Case Studies of Creativity in Innovative Product Development, Design Studies, Vol. 14, 423–443
Schön, D. (1983) The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action, New York: Basic Books
Schön, D. (1988) Designing: Rules, Types and Worlds, Design Studies, Vol. 9, 181–190
Seitama
a-Hakkarainen, P. and Hakkarainen, K. (2001) Composition and Construction in Experts’ and Novices’ Weaving Design, Design Studies, Vol. 22, 47–66
Simon, H. (1969) The Sciences of the Artificial, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
Valkenburg, R. and Dorst, K. (1998) The Reflective Practice of Design Teams, Design Studies, Vol. 19, 249–271
Visser, W. (1990) More or Less Following a Plan During Design: Opportunistic Deviations in Specification, International Journal of Man-Machine Studies, Vol. 33, 247–278
Illustration Credits
Chapter 1
Figure 1.1 courtesy of Philippe Starck. Photograph by Nigel Cross.
Figure 1.3 courtesy of Philippe Starck.
Chapter 2
Figure 2.1 courtesy of McLaren Automotive.
Figure 2.2 courtesy of Gordon Murray/McLaren Automotive.
Figure 2.3 courtesy of Gordon Murray.
Figure 2.4 courtesy of Gordon Murray.
Figure 2.5 courtesy of Gordon Murray.
Figure 2.6 courtesy of Gordon Murray. Photograph by Nigel Cross.
Figure 2.7 courtesy of Gordon Murray.
Chapter 3
Figure 3.1 courtesy of Kenneth Grange.
Figure 3.2 courtesy of Kenneth Grange.
Figure 3.3 courtesy of Kenneth Grange.
Chapter 5
Figure 5.2 courtesy of Wiley-Blackwell, Victor Scheinman.
Figure 5.3 courtesy of Wiley-Blackwell, Victor Scheinman.
Figure 5.4 courtesy of Wiley-Blackwell, Victor Scheinman.
Chapter 6
Figure 6.1 courtesy of Wiley-Blackwell, ‘Ivan, John and Kerry’.
Figure 6.2 courtesy of Wiley-Blackwell, ‘Ivan, John and Kerry’.
Figure 6.3 courtesy of Wiley-Blackwell, ‘Ivan, John and Kerry’.
Figure 6.4 courtesy of Wiley-Blackwell, ‘Ivan, John and Kerry’.
Figure 6.5 courtesy of Wiley-Blackwell, ‘Ivan, John and Kerry’.
Chapter 7
Figure 7.1 courtesy of Wiley-Blackwell, Joachim Günter, Eckart Frankenberger and Peter Auer.
Figure 7.2 courtesy of Wiley-Blackwell, Joachim Günter, Eckart Frankenberger and Peter Auer.
Figure 7.3 courtesy of Wiley-Blackwell, ‘Ivan, John and Kerry’.
Chapter 8
Figure 8.1 courtesy of Taylor & Francis Group (www.informaworld.com), Cognitive Neuropsychology, Vinod Goel and Jordan Grafman.
Figure 8.2 courtesy of Taylor & Francis Group (www.informaworld.com), Cognitive Neuropsychology, Vinod Goel and Jordan Grafman.
Figure 8.3 courtesy of Taylor & Francis Group (www.informaworld.com), Cognitive Neuropsychology, Vinod Goel and Jordan Grafman.
Acknowledgements
My friends Gordon Murray and Kenneth Grange freely and readily gave the time and patience to discuss their work with me, reported in Chapters 2 and 3. Victor Scheinman generously volunteered to participate in the experiment reported in Chapter 5, as did the anonymous designers Ivan, John and Kerry, reported in Chapter 6, all providing their time and talent free of charge, and allowing their design activity to be observed, recorded and analysed. My colleagues at the Delft University of Technology, Kees Dorst and Henri Christiaans, provided the initiative and the hard work in the design and conduct of the experiments. The facilities for the experiments were provided by the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, with the help of Steve Harrison and Scott Minneman. My wife Anita also contributed to analysing the experiments, to discussions with Gordon and Kenneth, and to my general well-being.
Blurb
Design thinking is the core creative process for any designer; this book explores and explains this apparently mysterious “design ability.”
Focusing on what designers do when they design, Design Thinking: Understanding How Designers Think and Work is structured around a series of in-depth case studies of outstanding and expert designers, interwoven with overviews and analyses. The range covered reflects the breadth of design, from hardware and software design to architecture and Formula One. The book offers new insights into and understanding of design thinking, based on evidence from observation and investigation of design practice.
Design Thinking is the distillation of the work of one of design’s most influential scholars. Nigel Cross goes to the heart of what it means to think and work as a designer. The book is an ideal guide for anyone who wants to be a designer or to know how good designers work in the field of contemporary design.
English edition
First published in 2011 by
Berg
Editorial offices:
First Floor, Angel Court, 81 St Clements Street, Oxford OX4 1AW, UK
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USA
© Nigel Cross 2011
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form
or by any means without the written permission of
Berg.
Berg is the imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978 1 84788 637 8 (Cloth)
978 1 84788 636 1 (Paper)
e-ISBN 978 1 84788 846 4 (Individual)
Typeset by JS Typesetting Ltd, Porthcawl, Mid Glamorgan
Printed in the UK by the MPG Books Group
www.bergpublishers.com
