This paper reports findings from the first systematic review of protocol studies focusing
specifically on conceptual design cognition, aiming to answer the following research …

Understanding how designers think is core to advancing design methods, tools, and
outcomes. Engineering researchers have effectively turned to cognitive science approaches …

Empirical methods used for studying design thinking have included verbal protocols, case
studies, and controlled experiments. Studies have looked at the role of design methods …

Applying previous solutions to solve new problems is a core aspect of design, and designers
routinely use informal analogies to solve a wide variety of design problems. However, when …

Studies of design cognition often face two challenges. One is a lack of formal cognitive
models of design processes that have the appropriate granularity: fine enough to distinguish …

In design classes, functional analysis is a process that is typically used to assist students
with identifying essential functions to aid in the development of their concepts. However, it …

The main objective of our research is to understand the role of problem formulation in
creative design ideation. To that end, we have used the web-based testbed of the Problem …

In some cases, the level of effort required to formulate and solve an engineering design
problem as a mathematical optimization problem is significant, and the potential improved …

Conventional syllabi of engineering design courses either do not pay enough attention to
conceptual design skills, or they lack an objective assessment of those skills to show …

Problem formulation is an essential design skill for which assessment methods have been
less commonly developed. In order to evaluate the progress of a group of graduate students …