Understanding the design neurocognition of industrial designers when designing and problem-solving

This paper presents results from an experiment to determine brain activation differences between problem-solving and designing of industrial designers. The study adopted and extended the tasks described in a prior fMRI study of design cognition and measured brain activation using EEG. The experiment consists of 4 tasks: problem-solving, basic design and open design using a tangible interface plus a fourth design task using sketching. Statistical analyses indicate increased activation when designing compared to problem-solving. Preliminary results from bringing neuroscience methods to design research is contributing to a better understanding of the emergent field of design neurocognition.