Humans, Machines and the Design Process. Exploring the Role of Computation in the Early Phases of Creation

Computational tools and the methodologies used in the early phases of creation often have conflicting requirements related to structure and systematicity. This paper describes an exploration into the increasing role that computation could play in the early stage of the design process. Insights from case studies at the design consultancy IDEO identified several key design activities and process variables used throughout the projects. Breaking these down into the contributing knowledge and creative ‘functions’ allowed computational representations to be created and a creative prompt tool developed. Further considerations on the possible features for the next technologies developed for these design activities concluded that a ‘bricolage toolbox’ of small, flexible and personalisable modules will enable the more ad hoc approach that is present in the early phases of creation.