Design Motifs: Abstraction Driven Creativity : A Paradigm for an Ideal Design(<Special Issue>What is "What's the Design"?)

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Design

Motifs

:

Abstraction

-

_A

_Paradigm

_for

_an

_ldeal

_Design

-Yukari

NAGAI

i _and

Toshiharu

TAURA 2 j

'_Japan

_Advanced

_{lnstituteof Science} andTechnoTogy

2 _{Kobe University}

Driven

Abstract

This _paper examines deslgn motlfs. We focus on the

importanceoftheinternal

_perspective

ofadesignera$ afactor thatdrivesthedesign_process;as we consider thata motjf

drivesa design:screatMty. Two types ofab$tractionprocesses in

design

(human-driven

abstraction and _{generalization)}are addressed bystudying creativity inbothdesignand art. We

discussthedifferencebetween design, art and theirmainstay intime,An idealdesign isexpressed as thereal meaning of `a real designactMty', a{so as the issue to be studied tor identifyingadesign,elaboratingon[whatdesignis',

l. Pretace

lnthisstudy,we discussthecentralissueotwhat adesignis

and how _peopleapproach thisissue,'What _{designis'hasbeen} a fatalisticissueas a targetfrombothstudying approaches :

designingandinvestigation(nameiy,[research').

We begin our argument with `creativity' _{in design for}

identifyjngacreative design. Creativeactivity is,as a matter of

fact,oftenexplained as acharacteristic ot humanity.Creativity

lsan issuethatshould be investigatedincognitive science since iti$thefoundation ofallcreative acts,i.e.

tcreativity

_plays a vitalrole jna hostof human activities, ]tcan enrich our ljves

when itreveals itselfinsoothing or exhilaratingmusic, etc. Peopleexplain creativlty as `it

can bringus new tools'and

±

itcan

provoke

advances inscience'

[1].

`Creative _thinking', whjch

invoivesstirring creativity isalso discussedbecause [it _is crucialas we adapt toour changing world'

[2].

CreatMty is

usually considered as a_per$on'sabilityto_producesomething new and unexpected

[3].

However, _peoplealso realize that

there are many differentlevelsof human creative acts

[4],

Perhaps,we can appropriate[y classify

_personal

creative acts intothreecategories :mundane creativity,productiveereativity, and excellent creativity

[5].

Mundane and _productivecreativity are suitable forproblem solving, but excel[ent creativity involves

_(formulation

and re-formulation _processes) and

Creativity

activated by[creative _thinking''i,

The scope of the dlscussieninthis

_paper

ison excellent creativity, _particularlyin design,ln _previousstudies en creativity, creativity indesignhasbeen definedas _producing theconcepts of

`really

original' _products

[6],

Thus,thedefinition

ofexcellentcreativity indesigncan beconsidered a$ _theabMty andtor _processof

_producing

original

_products,

which arenovel, useful, and unexpected

D7],

However,thisisonly an external viewpoint on creative acts. Viewingdesignfroman external perspectiveenable$ explaining itsstructure by adopting

models of systematic _processes, i.e._problem soMng

processes

[8].

Thus,fora longtime, the notjon of viewing

designs

from

an external _perspective

has

contributed to the accumulation ofour knowiedgeforunderstanding designby adopting a

_{problem-solving}

framework

[9-10].

We

obviously support thisestablished

_perspective,

For discussingthe

creativity ofa design,we suggest thatitisnecessary todeveIop

another _perspectiveon designby `creative _{thinking'from} an internal_perspective.The suggestions fromthe current studies rethink the vision and viewpoints _; i.e.senses forhaving another typeofviewpoints from_previousscience

`constructive

informatics'_{thatdiscussedbyNakashima}

_[11],

also theability of switching _innerand outer _perspectivesfordesjgningby

Tauraetal

[t2].

The above-mentioned suggestions affirm that setting a viewpoint involvesa signiticant _powerforachjeving more creative _processindesign.We feelthatthese viewpoints can berepresented as

:motivation'

and

`motif$'.

2.

Designing

trom

an lnternalPerspective

Exploring

the

issue

ot

'what

design is'itselfinvolves

undertaking acts that are highly creative and activated by internalenergy. Itbeginswith comprehending

'what

designi$'

tlDistinguishing

_{creative thinkingfromproductive,itisundersteod as a} processof highqualitythoughtincludingproblem formulation,for example, inventionsinscience and creative work inart,Productive thinkingiscensideredasaprocessforagivenproblem,

"f ;.7thXgfi.M.

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'VVhat'stheDesign"?

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through various $tudies. Moreover, Cross explained that

creative designactivity appeared to be [intuitivei _{because it} appeared suddenly, and

`this

iswhat characterizes creative

deslgn

as an exploration,ratherthanasearch'

[1

3].Inorder to explain thecharacteristicsofacreativedesign,we emphasjze ontheinternalenergythatstimulatesexcel1entcreativity,which

can be considered as a drivingtorceforthe _proces$ of

designing,Toexplain internalenergy, itisnecessary toobserve the _processof designfroman internal_perspective,Probably,a desire to understand

`what

de$ign is:becomes an eternal motive otdesjgn.Therefore,itisnece$sary torus toargue what causestheemergenceofamotive,

lnthispaper,we firstdiscussabout themotivations behind designstrom an internal_perspective.

Next,

we overview current design studies to reorganize the key aspects tor

research on

design

inorderto raise $everal issues,Further,we address the motives of design from an _internal

_perspective

_to respond totheraisedissuesand characterizecreative design,

2.1.MotivationforProducingaCreativeDesign

Why do_peopledesign?lndiscussionselucidating design,itis usuallyexplained as theactivity of_peopletomake _products

(in

other words,

`artefacts')

forsorne _purposes

[14].

Critically, accordjng to

Simon

[8],

design

has

been

explained as an `actien aimed atchanging theexistingsituationintoa

_preferred

one'

[15],

Thus, designerswere considered as innovatorsor retormers who helped in producing social improvements,

Probably,the wishes or desiresof designersto change the world [edthem tobea designerinthetirst_placeand _presented them with newer challenges. However,indesign research, the importanceof motivation _isalways noted butnot explicitly mentioned inthede$ignprocess. We are afraid that motivation

isa hackneyedword ;indeed,themotivation foradesignhasa doublemeaning. Externalmotivations, such as 'the

purposes' of a design,_presentone meaning. The ftNishtochange the world' isone of the external motivations. The other meaning

refers to the intrinsicmotivation, and this_presentsthemore importantmeaning"!

[16].

Sincecuriosityissuggested as the fthebiggestfactorformotivation'

[1

7-18],intrinsicmotivationi$ the main _powerforproducing acreativedesign.Withregard to

i2

_{Thetwo reported types efmotivation are:}

₍₁₎

_{intrinsicmotivation,}

which occurs when peopLeare internallymotivated todo semething

because iteither bringsthem pleasure,oriheythinkitisimportant;

(2)

extrinslcmotlvation, which comes intoplaywhen a student is compelied todo something or act ina certain manner because of

externalfactors.

-TVt].4'maYell,ece-Whatis'VVhaVstheDesig/i''?

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creativity, itwould be better ifthe notion of motivation

(especially

theintrjnsicone) isdefinedas a `drive' _to avoid

confusjon, A sense of

'drive'

impliesthe energy behjndthe drivingforce

in

design.

A design_process as a voluntary creation can beexpressed as acreative _processengaging with a_person'sinternalfeelingsthatdrivesthe_personbasedon hjst herintrinsicmotivations"3,Basedontheviewpointofaninternal perspectiveand intrinsicmotivation

(namely,

'drive'),

thisstudy attempts toclarilytheissueof`what

design

is',

2.2.ThreeAspects of Design Research

First,we overview the current issuesindesignresearch in

order tospecify the_po[nt$ofdi$cussionstoclarify'what _design is'.Design can be objectivelyexpre$$ed as a process. As describedabove, thustar,design_processeshavebeenstudied

by adopting a

_{problem-solving}

frameworkfrom an external perspective, lnrecent times, design _processeshave been

viewed differentlyfrom merely _prob]em solving _process,by adopting theinternal_perspective.There are significantissues

in_previousresearches on

design

thathave

discussed

the identificationof designfeatures ina more subjective manner.

They

have

covered the

following

threeaspects [

(1)

designing

isa

_practice,

₍₂₎

design

_produces

artefacts,

₍₃₎

designexistsin thesociety.Sinceeach of thesethreeresearch aspects has examined recentdesigns,we revieweach aspect withregardto thetrendsofcurrentstudies.

(1)Practice

One jmportantaspect ofdesigningisviewing itas a `practice'

[1

9].'Learning _bydoing:is

ofien valued forstudying adesigning

process.Theinterestingaspectsofadesigncanbeunderstood

only afterexperiencing it.1ndesign research,

[knowing

designs by doing7 was highlightedto analyse itsdistinctfeaturesin observed design activities

[20]

or by reporting itthrough empirical studies such as`action _research'

[21].

Thereis_some truthintheseviewpoints. Their claim appears tobe thatthe importantsteps of acquisitions

(i.e,

awareness, schematic knowledge acquisition, knowledge transfer, and so on) of

design

involvingembodied knowledge,includingthe tacit knowledge of _people,are related with experiences

[22],

Thus,

practiceislikelytobe an essential experience for_peopleto

Iearndesignand tobecome designexperts, lncurrent studies,

how toformulatedesign goalsi$an importantissuein

understanding the _processes of design learningand the

'U _See

tDesign

_{Creativity'by}Taura_and Nagaiin_thisspecial[ssue.

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process

of gainingexpertise

[23-24],

However, why _people

(students)

became enthusiasticwith regard tode$ignactivities

wasnotexplained.Thisisourfirstdoubt.

Commendably, practiceisalsopointedoutas necessary for people engaging increative acts. Edmonds and

Candy

have

developed "practice-based _{research' from theviewpoint of} creativity

[25].

They address the concept of the creative relationships between _participantsand art systems for

interactiondesign

_[26],

identifinga creative engagement

between artsy$tem$ and _participantsas new djmensionofHCI.

Since _{practice-based}research _provides knowledge of

creativity wjth rega rdteitsjntrinsicmotivations, we developour

di$cu$siontotheresearchers' dualmotives forelucidationand

tor_producingdesign

_<or

art).

Discussion

on how does _practice indesigning ditferfrom art_practiceisanother issueand willbe describedinthelastsectionofchapter3.

{2)

Producing Artefacts

Anotheraspect of designingishighlightingitsoutcomes. A

number of designresearches surveyed designoutcomes, for example

_product

designs.Plasticarts ofsuch _{productsprovide} aconsiderable amount of lnformationon ]earninghow tomake

good

designs;however,thereare more importantaspects in

understandjng designed objects. By analysing designed

objects, we may be able to understand designers'thought processesandhowtheydecidedtheforrnsandmechanismsof thoseobjects, Asnoted byVisser,designcan beemployed _tor

understandjng the human mind, thatis,forunderstanding `cognMon'; _thus,

studying a design implie$knowing _the artefact a$ a 'cognitive

artefact ot designing',referring that Simon's

`designing'

isformulated in`creating _{theartificial'}

E27].

A]thoughVisseremphasjzed on theimportance of resea rch on

real _designactivity,we suspect thatstudying `rea[ _design'doe$ not implystudying the work of real designers.Innovative objects are anexample ota remarkably successful outcome of

thecreative proces$.The process toobtain such $uccessfui outcomes _isoftencalledas an `innovative _design'

process'".

Aithough

some successtully designed objects represent

attractive beauties

(colours,

shapes, and symbols), thereare limitedas designs in

`stylesd

_(plastic

arts). Moreover, artefacts

" _Sometimes,

people confuse

tdesign

inspiredinnovation'and the tnnovative _process with product development, including its elaborations, Peopie tendtopay attention tothetrialsof _product developments,without _payingattentien tothenewness oftheidea itself.lnthisstudy,wediscussthecharacteristicsofacreativedesign, apantromtheprocessofpreductdevelopment.

represent functionsas weil, Thus,many siudies

pointed

out th'atthe embodiment of usetulness indesigned objects is a[so neces$ary

[26].

However,there isa remarkable mis$ing link between designed objects and a de$igner'$criteria fora nove]

design.

How

can we exp[ain that

_designers

are aware of the criteriaforanoveldesign?Dotheylearnthecriteriafora novel

designthroughtheirexperience?

Of

course, theycan learn thesecriteriatrom

_previous

designsby studying designed

objects. On the other hand,these criteria limitthe designers'

performancesinaddingsomefeaturestotheprevjousdesigns,

Therefore,we suspected the _presence oT contradictions

betweentheexternal and internalcriteria ofthedesigners.This

isoursecond doubtwith respect tothe_previousresearche$.

(3)

Design_problems

Further,thenotion of viewing designingas a feature of a civilizationhasarisenenlyrecentiy.Ulrichexplains thede$lgn process as 'human

endeavour] tofinddesign_problemsina situationand then to change itintoa bettersituation

[29].

Circulationmodels represent the relationship between

designers,users, and the society. Krippendoficiaims thatthe users' requirements based on their experiences _by u$ing artetactsrepresent social needs thatkeep up with the times

[30].

Designisbelievedtobeasocial act _tointroducechanges. In other words,

designers

probablyfindtheirtargetfor designing _fromusers'requirements orfrom$ociety.Knowing users'experiences and socialneeds arebelievedto_providea hintforfuture_designs

_[31],

_{Scenario-baseddesigns}

_{SBD)

and

persona-baseddesigns

(PBD)

have developeddesigns by

including

_particjpants

_(users).

_Thus,thenotion of a design

prob[em isconsidered as an expanded designspace in a socjety, The designers'contributions may

be

considered as community service fromthisviewpoint, Thus, service design

reforms the framework of a desjgn model intoa wider

deveiopedone-similar toa busines$model. To understand

designina society, designeducatlon should bedeveloped

based on cross-disciplinary collaborations

[32].

A view of the

'design

_torsociety'

givesa

`rajson

d'etre'toboth

designers

and users torsharing theworld, enables theopening of doorsto knowledgerelated toother discip[ines,and _providesasense of responsibility towards sustainability. However,ourthirddoubt iswhether `observing _the

outer world

(humans

ina society> is

theonlyway todetermineadesign_problem?,'Where we find`a design _problem'isthe central issueinunderstanding twhat designjs'.

rV-r).#fiffXltiFl

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Whatis'What'stheDesign"?

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2.3.DesignsMotifs'5

lnorder to answer the above-mentiened doubtson _previous designresearch, we

_propose

our view that`approaching _the notjon of "what _{design is"}

wou]d _provide a deeper

under$tandingofthemotivesofdesign].lnotherwords,internal perspectivesand criteria tormthemotives of design,and they drivepeopletostudydesign(designingerresearch).

Fig.1expresses thesetting ofourview and theframeworkot researchoncreativedesign,Onthebasisofthisframework,we

attempt toaddres$ theabove-mentioned issues.Withregard to thefirstdoubt,we inferthatthe motivation _{topromptlypractice} a designliesinnot only the_{designgoalsbut}also intheintrinsic motivation thatisthe centripetal forcethat drivesdesign learningthrough _practice.Withregard tothesecond doubt,we suggest thatthe discussionon how innovative

(novel)

[deasare

generated must be investigated to understand creative

artefacts. Withrega rdtothethirddoubt,we inferthatdesigners have an internal criteria for theirdesigns ifthey aim at understanding `what _{designis'.Further,we}

propose `design motifs' ofade$ignthatdrivesthedesignprocessand leadsto thecreationofadeslgnfromaninterna[perspective.

Todiscussdesignsmotifs,we foundsome differenttypesof

potentialmotifs. Ro$enman and Gero _proposeda diagramof

processes

involvedincreativedesigntoillustrate knowledge-based models of creative designvia the classitication of the differenttypes of design_processes: combination, mutatjon, analogy, and first_principles

[33].

Combinationhas been also reported as one of the examples of creative thoughtthat evokes creative leaps ina de$ignprocess

[1

3]._{A process}of concept-synthesis indesignhasbeenfocusedupon asitleads to_generatinga novel designidea

[34-35i.

The phenomenon of

theconcept synthesizing process indesign shows thata proce$$can bedrivenwithout any external _goals,Forexample, aprocessofsynthesizinganewideaofanimalfromtheexisting

animals isexplained a$ _paradigmmodel

[12],

We focusedon

factorsthat evolve a de$ign _process,From the internal

pevspective,'abstraction' _{isfoundas another}

type

_of

design

motifthatactivatesdesignprocesses,

lnthenextchapter, we argue about abstraction indesign as a motif and how itinfluences the creativity of a design,

th_{The notien ofa}

'motif'

_{isused inthesame meaning as} 'metive', _ihatis, `a <sub>reason fordoingsomething, ene that</sub>ishidden<sub>or not obvious';</sub> moreover, metitissimilarto'theme', 'subjecti, <sub>or</sub> `conception', _inthis paper.'Motif'isalsotheoriginoftheterm'motivation',

iYHr.rii?MY'tstse-Whatis'What'sLheDesign''? SpeciallssueoflapaneseSoc[etvfortheS[iEnceofDesLgn

vel.16-2 no,62 2009

StudyingWhat the designls'

Fig.1.Studyapp:oachestodesign

beginningwithsomerecollectionsofartanddesign,

3.

Abstraction

lntheearly twentieth century, modern styles were expressed

as artand design mevements.

One

movement called as

`Abstraction-Creation:

_{expressed the new world inabstract} shapes'E. U$ually,peoplerecognized artand designas styles

{namely,

p]asticarts). However, itscreation _process,rather

thanitsappearance, ismuch differentfromthatof_previousart. Thus, artists began designjngsystematic _paintjngsand sculptures.Inthis

_paper,

we discu$sabstraction_poweras ifit

naturally inhabitsminds, and itisdeeplyconnected tothe problemofhow we approach 'what _designis'.

3.1.AbstractionProcess

The abilityof abstraction isexp)ained as `the

qualityofbeing

abstract' that impliesEa

generalidea not based on any

particularreai _person,thing,or situation:. 'The

state of thinking

deeplyabout $omething and not _payingattention to what is around _you'isthe second formalmeaning of abstraction. In

technical terms,

`the

action of removing something from

something eise'isalsocarleda$ abstraction,because jtjsthe process of be[ng removed trom something else inorder to

extend to

'abstraction'.

Abstraction isdefined as follows:

<1)

preoccupation,

(2>

the process ot

formulating

genera[ized

concepts by extracting common _qualitiesfrom specific

examples,

(3)

aconcept formulatedinthisway :_good and evil areab$tractions".

The abstraction process has illuminatedmechanisms ot

humanthought,inparticularofthecreativethoughtconcerning `ana[ogical

reasoning'

[36].

The structure ofmental mapping

'G

_{seeAbstraction- CreationlinThe OxfordDictiomaryetArt.}

i'

'Abstraction'

(a)

a _generalideanotbasedonany particuiarrealperson, thing,or situation;thequalityof beingabstract ; (b)tinestate of thinking deeplyabout semething and notpayingattentiontewhat is aroundyou;(c)theactionefremovingsomethingtromsomethingelse.

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lli(S,\g:.c/.ia.ml

' o"dfk Fig,2.Processofgeneralizationinabstraction

-wa$ explained as a

process

of abstraction and knowledge transter.However, what evokes abstraction isnot _yetc[arMed.

Sincewe be[ievethat`what _{designis'isa key issueto} understand creative thought,we focusedon theprocess of abstraction indesign.The abstraction _process

perhaps

plays

the role of adrivingforcefordesign,Totormulatea concept, extracting the essence bycapturing thenature of theobject is the main _processof abstraction. To determinea common

quaiitywithin various objects, _peopleremove separate objects

duringthe extraction _process.We consider abstraction as a

human

ability

for

capturing theessential_qualitywith entireness ofanobject.

To

be

sure,lt

is

necessary to

inductively

capture a common denominatorof the featuresinorder to extract common features. This isreferred toas

igeneralization',

However,

generaiization

is_possiblewithout being _preoccupied with

objects,and itisnot a human-centred abstractjon _process

_{Fjg,

2).Generalizationhelpsinsimplifying therepresentation of objects,To introducethehuman-drivenabstraction

_process,

Figure3illustratesa human abstractjon process

{e.g,

abstract

painting)

actlvatedbyadrive

_Ontrinsic

motivation) froman inner

perspective.On the basisot thishuman drivenabstraction

process,thedesignersdiscoverwhat `a _design

should be'in essence, namely, an idealdesign,

Notably,basedon theabove classification, human emotion can bealsoconsidered as an abstracted feelingwithout any

logicaloperations'S. The basic_power toextract thenature of

theobjects-which iscalledas `sensation'-has _{been discussed} in_psychology;itviews theinherit_phenomena within an object rather than jtssurface attributes

[37].

However, the abilityof extracting theinherentnature ofthingsor objects only actsas perception,and itdoes not represent excellent creatMty. The abilityotdesigningisrequired tocreate a new art.Forexample,

l･

1

Anoblect

Fig.3.Processefhuman-drivenabstraction

n

a paintingin

`abstract

expressionism' isnot representative of art, but itexpresses not only human emotions butalso ab$tractionoftheobject

(the

world)

'n.

The motjt ofa _paintingis extracted ffomarelationshipbetween theselfofan arti$tand theworld tromthevlewpoint ottheartist,resoivingthe issueof `what _the

artshould be'.

Itisbe"evedthatthe abilityof abstraction typifieshuman thinking,We haveargued thattheabstraction process and the abHity otabstraction indesignarerequired inevery

_piece

ofart, especially inthe case of a designinga creative _pieceof art,

Abstractioncan be considered as a strong motif forachievlng excellent creativity both inart and design.The sentence

'nothing

emerges

from

nothings

(zero)'

represents an aspect of

human creativity.Itimplie$ that

`new

ideas,whether

wondrously creative or merely unusual, are almost always constructed from thebuildingblocks of _priorknowledge:

[38]

'iD.

These creativefeatures occur inbothartand designand are also related with the _processof human-drivenabstraction,

A[thoughthereare many similaritiesbetween designand artat the excellent creativity Ievel,we now consider the

characteristicsofdesign.

Inthe next sectjon, we investigatethe design abstractjon

processtodistinguishdesignfromart. 3.2.Comparison between Artand Design

Utonardo

daVincihadargued thatthesigpificattt _{contributjp.!L.} 'eSee`abstraction'jnTheEncyciopaediaBritannicaregarding'Souriau,

E,

₍₁

947)Lacovesponctance desarts,Flammarion'.

"_{The dominant movement inAmerican}

paintinginthelate1940s and 1950s,_(see

'Abstract

Expressionism'

_,

inThe OxfordDlctionary of

Art),i"'Picturesque'

isafeatureofart.Strainsand spots otsuch rnodern painting regard tothememory ofthethingswhich reflectedon eyes.

Thisimagination_processcan beviewed a$ adiscoveringprocessby

an interactionbetween the selfand theobject ina world. Such a

processoccurs jn_design,in_particularinsketches intheear[ystages

ofthedesignprocess. 'rv.r _),;'enXi"fi=

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Expression Lookforward

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Mainstay Fig.4.Mainstayefartmotit

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1 1 yxt'1

of artactivitywere not only inthe formof skills related to handwork butalso intheformof a human approach torealize

theworld

[38].

Therefore,theformativeartactivity involvesboth `handwerk" _as

well as `mind-work'

at the same time,

Understanding a characteri$tic of an artwork involves

increasingitsclearness. Inrecent _times,thenotionof`art' _has shown a _particulartendency. That is,

`art

expresse$ thehurnan thought', Then,the mQst

important

_featureof artisthatit

represent$ theauthors'$view of_theworld.The most important featureofartisconsidered tobeone thatrepresents theartist's awareness forrecognizing theworld. Incontemporary art, abstract artisdividedinto'abstract

expressionism' and `hard edge:. These two typesof abstract artare called as thot'

and `co]d'

abstract expressions. Inmodern society, these types of abstract arts reflect the typicalviews of artists tothe world.

Correspondingwith art movements, emotional and simplified

designshave been the two main

types

of designs. ]nboth

design

and art,abstraction isa motifused toenact creative imagination.

Atthispoint,wefindthedistinguishingfeaturesof`thedesign'

via abstraction,As mentioned above, thereareno dMerences between artand designon thebaslsof the view that`nothing emerges fromzero'. However,thedrivingforcesofbothartand designare inoppo$ite directions,Normally,artist$ eveke their imaginationfrom any image-even froma $tain on a

wall-throughtheirown memories, Theirpictorialexpres$iens are always relatedtoany ad hocvision. Artusually isrelatedtoits historybecausethe intentionof artisto_providetheorientation

forsearching itsorigin$. Astage otart isusually inthe _present `is:

stage and isformulatedbylookingbackatthe 'was' _{stage in} the_past

_(Fig,

4).

1ncontrast,designdoesnoterienttothe_past.Figure5shows where themainstay otadesignis,Toidentifythecreativityina

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-"tt

/

design, the issue of theoriginofthedesignideaha$ been discussedon the basis of the knowledge of studying design cognition _{by tocusing}on concept synthesizing process in design

[39].

Theab$traction process indesigntocreate a new idea,which istheidealone,isdrivenbytheforethoughtof a

promiseor by foresight.We propose a _peculiarfeatureof

design,namely,`adesignhasadefinitesourceinthefuture'. 3.3.Idealizationot DesignSchema

We haveclassified the abilityof abstractjon indesignintotwo types,namely, 'abstraction _in

e$$ence'

(human-driven

abstraciion) and [abstraction _in

simplified representation'

<generalization).

Theformerimpliesastrong motif ofdesigning,and its_process aims at achieving real abstraction. `Abstraction

in

essence' involvesthe entireness, The latterone implies our usual rational activities. Most designed objects were _producedbased on thelatterabstraction, which comprised some external _goals butwithout any internaldriveor criteria,Ifwe conduct a study

on designstormulatedusing thelatterabstraction,we would never beabletocapture therealabstraction and idealdesign.

To identifythetypicalhuman-drivenabstractions indesign,

we have surveyed examples _presentedindiscussionsin

designstudies. Coyne etal._perceived designas thesituated problemsinordertoscope iton theba$isofconnection model, and they e$tlmated thedesignschema inthecase of house

building

[40].

Every design scheme isstructural[y based on a

concrete _problem.For example, adeslgn scheme tora house can beconstructed with many rooms, such as livingroom,

bedroom,bathroom,and kitchen,lnother words, a housecan

be represented as a composition of the$e roorns. They

suggested thatthe designschema could be found inthe $ituated functionsand used to formthestructure$ of these rooms. Their _proposed example is Iimited in the case of

physicalconstructions such as buildings,To developthe idea

NII-Electronic Library Service

Dei;g,,.,

activities `How _todesign'

StudyingWhat thedesignis' Fig.6.StudyapproachestotheLdealdesign

ofa designschema, we consider thattheschema should be freefromthefunctionailimitationofexistingobjects.Thedesign

schema should represent an idealmeaning ofahouse foraself. Thiscanbeaccruedbyahuman-drlvenabstractionprocesstor

ahouse.

Moreover,toformuIateadesignspace thatcorresponds with an idealdesignschema, itisnecessary toexplore themeaning of a new relationship between the self and the objects

[41].

Therefore,identifyingan abstract image js needeci for

formulatingthe idealdesigninan idealsituation. We have situated the real _designby enlarging Visser'sview

[27]

for studyingwhatthereal`idealdesign'is,

4.The `idear

_design'-as

_{a conctusion}

lnorder toidentifytheconcept ofa

`design:,

we firstexamined themotivations ofdesignfocusingon theinternalperspective. We turtherdiscussedtheabstraction

_process,

whjch appears tostimulatecreative design,especially tromthe perspective of

thelnternalcriteria.The internalcriteriaareconsidered toarise

duringaselfconsciousprocessjnacommitmentwiththeworld

via intrinsicmotivation

(namely

`drive:)

while havingan inner

perspective,One ofthetypes oftheabstraction _process,which

js human-driven abstraction, ieads to designers being

preoccupied with recognizing the world from an internal

perspective,Abstractionis not a _goalor _purpose for the designersbutamotifanddriveforcreativeacts.

Second,we claimed another important featuretodistinguish

design

creativitytromart

(from

_pictorialrecognitions),thatis,an idealdesign. Needles$ to say, _practiceis necessary to

research as well as learnany creative activity, Design,too,js notan exception,Visserclaimed

'that

tounderstand the nature ofdesign,itisimportanttoobserve real designactivities, Then, itcan be sald thata clue iscovered inany kindofdesignact.

Even ifwe observe adesignof mannerisms, we consider that the core of the designisnot _provided,We consider that_the

factors of the _processot idea]design enable a _processto transcendproblemsolving.Forminginternalcriteria _provides the answer for the argument _presentedby Visser stating

'designinvolvesmorethanproblemsolving'and'characterizing

designas

_probiem

solvingdoesnot capture itsessence!' Thus,

we developVisser'sclaim and state thattto

understand design,

itisnecessary toobserve real designs',butwe emphasize that we should study it'particularly

at the levelof idealdesign'.

Studyingan idealdesignas a real

design

activity[eadsus to understandtheindwellingfeaturesofacreativedesign,

Finally,we _proposean exemplar feranjdeal_design.An _ideal designissomething that aroused trom within us, which is supported _byour idealcriteria._Itinvolves _thepresenceofthe abstraction process inan idealenvironment, Moreover,it

produces

what adesignshould be likefrom _the

_perspective

of `future'

and `to _be',

which can be recognized only by human

beings.Atthebeginningofthi$study we cited thedefinitionof

designthatwould make change the situation to_pleasantone.

Finally,we note thatchanging isnot theaim ofdesignbutltwM

beonly appeared as theresults of idealdesign. Gjventhis,we show our _potentialtoanswer thechallenging _que$tienof'What de$ignis'.

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