Emergent methods, methodologies, technologies and tools for design and engineering processes

This (borderline, shallow) paper is a raw perspective, a take on, partly based on, and inspired by the work of Goldschmidt [01], Gabora [02] and Tversky [03] who assert that visual and meta-cognitive stimuli constructed from multiple experiences and multiple modalities in ‘design spaces’ (i.e. internal or external) are potential stimuli in ideation, iterative and creative processes. The cognitive, physical and sensorial capabilities of people intertwined, interlinked, and/or coupled with the cognitive memory patterns form the mental representations (abstractions) of productive thought. Ideas are inherently ambiguous or metaphorically spatial representations that become tangible and visual transformations through intention, interaction and externalization. We concur with them that a wide variety or plethora in stimuli during problem-solving activities or iterative creative ideation processes will enhance the task in finding solutions, enhance the exploration space and make their exploitation serendipitous. We propose hybrid design tools [04, 06] to stimulate reflective conversations with materials, enhance creative thought processes, inspire imagination and visuo-spatial reasoning in design.