Design Expertise Amongst Student Designers

This report of a series of protocol studies of designers at varying levels of competence examines the pedagogical system of integrating developing skills with increasing project complexity as a definition of design expeitise. It comments on different kinds of problem-solving strategies which are used to ensure the appropriateness of the aims of design education, and assesses the relative importance that novelty and creativity, uncertainty and information, imagination and constructive thought, and drawing and modelling play in the maturation of designers. The results show a lack of predictability, but that the abilities needed for design expertise can be articulated and developed as educational programmes.