Successful individual approaches in engineering design

Designers have been observed and their abilities and design processes were analysed. Their solutions were evaluated in order to measure the success. Success-promoting abilities were: good spatial imagination, routine in sketching, solid engineering knowledge and high heuristic competence. An appropriate strategic approach was found to be oriented towards the central function when solving simple problems, whereas in more complex problems the approach also conformed with methodical guidelines. All in all, a flexible methodical style of working proved successful. During the goal analysis successful tactics were: asking questions focused on the problem structure, summarizing information, and not suppressing solution ideas. During the search for solutions successful tactics were: varying alternatives at least for the main functions, generating and reducing variants in a balanced manner, and evaluating solutions frequently and according to their level of abstraction. Based on these findings, conclusions have been drawn for engineering design research, education and practice.