Sketching
Design Thinking:
Representations of
Design in Education
and Practice
Colin M. Gray & Martin A. Siegel
DRS // CUMULUS | May 15, 2013

Reflection is embedded in a variety of
educational domains
(Ellmers, 2006; Rogers, 2001; Schön, 1983)
Creation of schema as potentially evaluative
in relation to design expertise?
(Nelson & Stolterman, 2012; Siegel & Stolterman, 2008)
Viewing the design studio as “a coherent
system of activity” that connects to practice
(Brandt, et al., 2011; Shaffer, 2007)
background

review of
literature

literature
“Playing the Whole Game”
Viewing education in a holistic, action-driven way
(Perkins, 2010)
Linking education and practice together through the studio
(Schön, 1983; Shulman, 2005)

literature
Reflection
Reflection-in-action as a tacit process “in the moment”
(Schön, 1983)
Reflection-on-action as a more explicit act
(Ellmers, 2006; Schön, 1983)

literature
Expertise in Design Practice
Generic model of expertise
(Dreyfus, 2003; Lawson & Dorst, 2009)
Domain specific model of expertise in interaction design
(Siegel & Stolterman, 2008)

context

First-year Master’s students in the Human-Computer
Interaction design (HCI/d) program in a School of
Informatics
Interaction design practitioners
context

data
Students (60)
Three “whole game of HCI” sketches during an
introductory design course (undergraduate and
graduate students)
Practitioners (6)
One “whole game of HCI” sketch completed during
an interview for a larger study

methods

methods
Thematic coding
Analysis of formal visual characteristics

analysis
Analysis of intact sets of student reflection sketches
Sketches coded based on organizational paradigms and
formal characteristics

findings

ROUND 1

ROUND 1

ROUND 1

ROUND 1

ROUND 1

ROUND 1

ROUND 1

ROUND 2

ROUND 2

ROUND 2

ROUND 2

ROUND 2

ROUND 2

ROUND 2

ROUND 2

ROUND 3

ROUND 3

ROUND 3

ROUND 3

findings
Beginning designer to hardened professional
Risk-averse and simplistic to chaotic and deep
Linear to non-linear to linear
Individual designer to team of collaborators

D
ESIGN
EXPERTISE
LINEAR-
SIMPLE-
ABSTRACT
ITERATIVE-
COMPLEX-
CONCRETE
END OF
FIRST
SEMESTER
DESIGN
PRACTITIONER
START OF
FIRST
SEMESTER

next steps

next steps
Richer data collection to establish context surrounding the
creation of these sketches (currently underway)
Additional work on reflection as a way to externalize conceptions
of design thinking

references
Brandt, Carol B., Cennamo, Katherine, Douglas, Sarah, Vernon,
Mitzi, McGrath, Margarita & Yolanda Reimer. 2011. “A theoretical
framework for the studio as a learning environment”. International
Journal of Technology and Design Education, 1-20. doi:10.1007/
s10798-011-9181-5
Dreyfus, Stuart E. 1981. Formal models vs. Human situational
understanding: Inherent limitations on the modeling of business
expertise. Berkeley: Operations Research Center, University of
California.
Dreyfus, H. L. 2003. The Spinoza Lectures. University of
Amsterdam.
Dubberly, Hugh. 2004. How do you design: A compendium of
models. San Francisco, CA: Dubberly Design Office. Retrieved
from http://www.dubberly.com/articles/how-do-you-design.htm
Ellmers, Grant. 2006. “Reflection and graphic design pedagogy:
Developing a reflective framework to enhance learning in a
graphic design tertiary environment”. In Proceedings of thinking
the future: Art, design and creativity: ACUADAS 2006 conference.
Rogers, Russell R. 2001. “Reflection in higher education: A
concept analysis”. Innovative Higher Education, 26(1): 37-57. doi:
10.1023/A:101098640452
Lawson, Bryan, & Kees Dorst. 2009. “Expertise in design”. In
Design expertise, 81-112. Oxford: Architectural Press.
Nelson, Harold G., and Erik Stolterman. 2012. The design way:
Intentional change in an unpredictable world (2nd ed.).
Cambridge: MIT Press.
Perkins, David N. 2010. Making learning whole: How seven
principles of teaching can transform education. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass.
Shaffer, David W. (2003). Portrait of the oxford design studio: An
ethnography of design pedagogy. WCER Working Paper No.
2003-11. Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin-Madison,
Wisconsin Center for Educational Research.
Schön, Donald A. 1983. The reflective practitioner: How
professionals think in action. New York: Basic Books.
Schön, Donald A. 1985. The design studio: An exploration of its
traditions and potentials. London: RIBA Publications Limited.
Schön, Donald A. 1987. Educating the reflective practitioner:
Toward a new design for teaching and learning in the professions.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Siegel, Martin A., and Erik Stolterman. 2008. “Metamorphosis:
Transforming non-designers into designers”. In Undisciplined!
Proceedings of the Design Research Society Conference 2008:
378:1-13. Sheffield, UK: Sheffield Hallam University.