Short answer
Designers should cultivate and leverage their visual mental imagery skills, and design educators and leaders should recognize and support the diverse ways designers imagine.
- Field
- Modelling
- Source
- Proceedings of the Design Society (2022)
- Method
- Correlational study
- Sample
- 16 participants
- Evidence
- Strong effect
The ability to form vivid visual mental images is strongly correlated with increased creativity during product design ideation. This modelling research insight is drawn from a 2022 study published in Proceedings of the Design Society. Using Correlational study with 16 participants, researchers explored how this design variable affects real-world outcomes. The key design takeaway: Designers should cultivate and leverage their visual mental imagery skills, and design educators and leaders should recognize and support the diverse ways designers imagine.
Vivid visual mental imagery enhances design ideation creativity by up to 68.8%
The ability to form vivid visual mental images is strongly correlated with increased creativity during product design ideation.
Proceedings of the Design Society · 2022
Key Findings
- 01Vividness of visual mental imagery varies significantly among designers.
- 02A strong positive relationship exists between vividness of visual mental imagery and creativity in design ideation.
- 03Most designers utilize mental imagery frequently during ideation.
Application
Design takeaway
Designers should cultivate and leverage their visual mental imagery skills, and design educators and leaders should recognize and support the diverse ways designers imagine.
How to apply
Incorporate visualization exercises into design workshops and encourage designers to articulate their mental models.
Project actions
- 01When documenting your ideation process, describe how you used mental imagery.
- 02Consider how different visualization techniques might impact your idea generation.
Method & Evidence
Variables
Strengths & Limitations
Strengths
- +Directly investigates a cognitive aspect of design ideation.
- +Highlights a potentially trainable skill for designers.
Limitations
The subjective nature of 'vividness' can be hard to measure objectively. The link to creativity might be influenced by other unmeasured cognitive factors.
Reliability & validity
The validity of measuring imagery vividness relies on self-report and subjective interpretation. Reliability could be improved with standardized questioning and multiple measures of creativity.
Think critically
To what extent can 'vividness' of mental imagery be objectively measured, and what are the implications if a designer's primary mode of ideation is not visual?
Design Principles
"The richness of internal visualization directly impacts the novelty and effectiveness of design concepts."
Understanding the role of mental imagery in design can inform how we train designers and develop tools to support the ideation process. Recognizing that designers possess varying levels of visual imagery vividness allows for more tailored approaches to creative problem-solving.
What This Means for Your Design
Being able to 'see' your ideas clearly in your mind can make you more creative when designing new products.
How to use in your project
- 1.Reference this study when discussing your personal ideation methods and how you aimed to enhance your creative output through visualization.
Add to My Project
Quick Cite
Paragraph starter
The process of design ideation is significantly influenced by cognitive factors such as the vividness of visual mental imagery. Research indicates a strong positive correlation between the clarity and detail of a designer's mental visualizations and their creative output during the ideation phase. Recognizing this, designers can actively employ and refine their visualization techniques to enhance the generation of novel and effective design solutions.
Source
Proceedings of the Design Society
Do You See What I See? Exploring Vividness of Visual Mental Imagery in Product Design Ideation
journal · 2022
View sourceQuestions About This Research
- What does the research say about vivid visual mental imagery enhances design ideation creativity by up to 68.8%?
- Designers should cultivate and leverage their visual mental imagery skills, and design educators and leaders should recognize and support the diverse ways designers imagine. Evidence: Proceedings of the Design Society (2022).
- Why does "Vivid visual mental imagery enhances design ideation creativity by up to 68.8%" matter for design?
- Understanding the role of mental imagery in design can inform how we train designers and develop tools to support the ideation process. Recognizing that designers possess varying levels of visual imagery vividness allows for more tailored approaches to creative problem-solving.
- How can designers apply this research?
- Designers should cultivate and leverage their visual mental imagery skills, and design educators and leaders should recognize and support the diverse ways designers imagine.
- What were the main findings?
- Vividness of visual mental imagery varies significantly among designers.. A strong positive relationship exists between vividness of visual mental imagery and creativity in design ideation.. Most designers utilize mental imagery frequently during ideation.
- What research method was used?
- Correlational study with 16 participants.
- How strong is the evidence?
- Evidence strength is rated Strong effect, based on a 2022 journal from Proceedings of the Design Society.
- What should I do differently in my next project?
- Incorporate visualization exercises into design workshops and encourage designers to articulate their mental models.
- What are the limitations?
- The study involved a small sample size, and the findings are preliminary. Other forms of mental representation beyond visual imagery were not extensively explored.