The Relation between Design Expertise and the Quality of Design Idea

Abstract

Designers rely much heavily on experience. Previously, it was assumed that particular developmental experiences are correlated with creativity which develops over time through experience. The aim of this study is to explore whether design expertise definitely improves the creativity of design ideas in architectural design. To test the hypothesis, several architectural designers at different levels of expertise, from novice students to expert architects, participated in a design task. The novelty and quality of the design ideas were evaluated as the signs of creativity. The results indicated that there are significant relations between design expertise with the quality, but not with the novelty of the design ideas. The expert designers preferred to find ideas that have practical solutions to the design problem, but novices looked for original ideas. In conclusion, design experience influences creative ideation but has different effects on various aspects of design creativity.