Exploring the Novice Designers’ Use of Cognitive Strategies in the Process of Design Metacognition

Abstract

Background The purpose of this study is to understand and explain the reflective iterative mechanism of the design problem-solving process by exploring the designer’s cognitive strategies and metacognitive processes used in the design process. In particular, the study can contribute to establishing a conceptual framework that can explain the designer’s reasoning process, based on metacognitive theory developed in the fields of psychology and education. Methods In this study, a bottom-up, informal approach was used to derive a conceptual framework regarding designers’ metacognitive reflection process. Verbal reporting data about their work process and results were collected from design learners performing design work, and an informal verbal protocol analysis was conducted through a coding procedure according to the grounded theory analysis method. To ensure the reliability of the analysis, we compared and reviewed theoretical concepts reviewed in the fields of cognitive psychology and design studies, and we conceptualized and classified design cognitive strategies and metacognitive processes through a multiple coding procedure and analyzed their relationships. Results A total of 228 protocols on the formation of design concepts were obtained from the verbal reports of two design learners. The design task was carried out in three stages through a multiple coding procedure based on the protocols. In the process, 19 categories were identified. Cognitive activities and five categories of cognitive strategies were analyzed for utilization. These cognitive strategies were classified into three metacognitive functions: planning, monitoring, and regulating. According to the analyzed results, three metacognitive processes were performed cyclically and repeatedly during the designer’s task performance, and the utilization of cognitive strategies varied for each function. Conceptual meaning, idea specification, and inspiration source utilization strategies were continuously used throughout the design task. An effort was made to achieve a cognitive shift by self-regulating the design work through the use of error detection reasoning strategies and evaluative judgment strategies within the monitoring function. Conclusions The study empirically confirms that the designer’s reflective repetition mechanism is carried out through a cycle of metacognitive reasoning in the design problem solving process and develops in different ways depending on the stage of design task performance. In particular, the introduction of metacognitive theory can be a useful conceptual framework for understanding and explaining strategic cognitive activities that occur during the designer’s task performance. These implications are necessary for a metacognitive approach to design education that can improve the designer’s cognitive control ability for the effective practice of design thinking.