Design and categorization: The effects of object categories on object design

In order to cope with the amount and diversity of incoming information, it is necessary for humans to create categories. The effects of categorizing a to-be-designed object such as a building are both positive and negative. Positive effects of categorization are primarily process related and include (1) allowing definition of previously unspecified parts and affordances which are likely to benefit the design, (2) defining a visual search space consisting of particular instances of the category within which to look for design sources, (3) providing a standard with which to evaluate proposed sources, (4) providing required visual values, (5) providing generic visual sources, and (6) structuring the process of synthesizing design sources into an object whole.; The degree to which these positive effects apply to the design of a specific kind of object differs as a function of differences between artifact categories. When compared to other categories, the building category has more definition at higher levels of abstraction and less definition at lower levels of abstraction where shared affordances do not typically result in shared visual characteristics. As a result, building designers have access to more categoric information when a to-be-designed object is defined abstractly but, in contrast to designers of artifacts such as furniture, tools, and clothing, do not experience the advantages of increasing information as the object is categorized more specifically. Thus, building design is inherently more open-ended as a function of its category structure.; Categorization essentially equates objects within the category. Since design requires production of a novel object, the design product is negatively impacted by categorization. In addition, information processing characteristics developed from everyday categorization situations may negatively affect design problem solving. Because building categories do not exhibit increasingly specific visual features, normal speakers may represent building categories symbolically. When such representations are used by novices during design, resulting designs will lack veridicality. In addition, categoric fixity may make it difficult for novice designers to produce novelty.; The negative effects of categorization on design will be most operable with novice designers and may vary across disciplines as a function of category differences between the object types being designed. Thus, design educators should develop discipline-specific studio problems structured to remediate negative categoric effects on design. Recommendations include use of exemplar-based design to promote veridical representation and use of extra-category searches, solution-first processes, and designing parts as wholes to promote novelty.