| This work treats question asking while designing as a process, and examines its key aspects. The theoretical part of the research involves the development of a taxonomy of questions asked while designing, and an analytical framework for measuring design performance.; The contribution of the taxonomy—apart from proving to be a comprehensive analysis framework—is its ability to differentiate between Deep Reasoning Questions (DRQs), and Generative Design Questions (GDQs). DRQs reflect convergent thinking, whereas GDQs reflect divergent thinking. The contribution of the design performance framework is the distinction it makes between activity based internal (real-time) performance metrics and prototype based external performance metrics. Internal metrics are associated with the quality of the processes used to create the designs, whereas external metrics are associated with the quality of the designs.; The empirical part of the research involves designing and conducting experiments to test hypotheses generated from field observations. The more significant hypotheses postulate relationships between question asking processes of teams and their design processes, and between their combined DRQ+GDQ asking rates and performance. Both hypotheses were verified. Question asking processes of design teams were demonstrated to be descriptors of their design processes, and combined DRQ+GDQ asking rate was demonstrated to be an internal design performance metric.; The findings also demonstrated DRQ+GDQ utilization to be a mechanism designers rely on for managing divergent and convergent modes of thinking. During conceptualization, GDQs were shown to be instrumental in preserving ambiguity by reframing previously recognized needs and understandings, generating alternatives, and creatively negotiating proposed design concepts. During implementation and assessment, DRQs were shown to be instrumental in reducing ambiguity by reiterating goals, focusing on deliverables, seeking and establishing causality, and reducing the number of alternatives.; Special consideration was given to laying out the foundations of a unified design theory, which integrates the findings on question asking with existing understandings on decision making in design contexts. Application of the findings in developing better design information and knowledge creation and sharing systems was also considered. |
