Effects of additional stimuli on idea-finding in design teams

Studying the effects of idea-finding design methods experimentally can provide some light into their degree of usability. An experiment was carried out to study the effects that different stimuli proposed in idea-finding methods have on the design process and outcomes of four design teams, and to compare these effects with those produced by the problem-solving characteristic of the team members. Protocol analysis and outcome-based analysis were carried out. The results of the analysis show that stimuli can have a greater effect on the design activity than the influence of the designers’ problem-solving styles in the conditions of the experiment. Stimulus with SCAMPER questions favours refinement of solutions, by using a solution as a frame and the questions as sub-frames. Stimulus with images (related in shape and function with the designed object, and displayed in intervals of time) leads teams to be in a continuous flux of generation of partial solutions.