Relations between design activities and personal creativity modes

The objectives of this study are to understand the relations among personal creativity modes, various patterns of design activities including design information and process and design quality via the protocol analysis of design sessions of expert and student designers. Two complementary coding schemes, design information and process, are proposed for the protocol analysis. It is demonstrated that designer's creativity modes can be highly related to the characteristics of the design activities in terms of design information and process. The unique patterns of design information usage and design process evolution relying on the personal creativity modes were observed. It is also shown that an adequate distribution and interaction between problem and solution spaces during design process could be required to produce a solid and original solution. In addition, the frequent use of design information of external knowledge can be necessary to enhance the originality of the generated design solution.