Title: Creative Thinking by Expert Designers

Authors: Nigel Cross

Addresses: Department of Design and Innovation The Open University Milton Keynes UK

Abstract: Three case studies of expert practice in engineering and product design are reported. The studies are of exceptional designers and comprise one protocol study and two retrospective interview studies. In each case, an example of the designer’s approach to a particular design problem is presented. Comparisons between the three examples are drawn, and there appear to be some striking similarities in the designers' strategies, despite the very different project examples. A general descriptive model of creative strategies in design is developed from these commonalities.

Keywords: Expertise, Creativity, Design process

DOI: 10.1504/JDR.2004.009839

Journal of Design Research, 2004 Vol.4 No.2, pp.162 - 173

Published online: 10 Aug 2005 *

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