Problem framing is a foundational aspect of the engineering design process, shaping how designers perceive challenges and potential solutions. Qualitiative methods, such as protocol analysis, have provided valuable insights about problem framing but are labor-intensive and time consuming. This study explores the use of a NLP technique BERTopic, to analyze framing in design conversations. BERTopic retains contextual nuances, offering a tool for uncovering the diversity and uniqueness of concepts explored by design teams while also making the analysis process more efficient. The results provide one representation of eight design group’s processes, highlighting the different and changing topic representations that emerge throughout a design session. The findings highlight the potential of NLP tools for enhancing our understanding of framing in design cognition and team dynamics.

Human-centered design involves designing for users who may have social identities that are dissimilar from designers’ social identities. These differences could impact designers’ ability to understand users’ needs and integrate considerations of social identity into design decisions. Reflective interventions could encourage designers to actively consider social identity in design and our aim in this research is to explore this hypothesis through an experimental study. We tested the effects of completing a social identity-based reflection exercise on novice designers’ task clarification behavior. We also qualitatively examined the quality and content of the reflection responses. We find that participants who completed the intervention generated more social identity-focused design requirements, irrespective of the persona provided to them. Additionally, the content analysis revealed that designers who occupy minority identities (e.g., women and students of color) were more likely to provide deeper and higher-quality reflection responses. These findings suggest that reflective interventions could be an effective mechanism to promote inclusive design, leading to the design of products that users across social identities can use equitably. Furthermore, designers with different social identities may require different reflection cues (e.g., ones more focused on their personal experiences), to encourage deeper reflection on the effects of social identity in design.

The ambidextrous balance of combining quantitative and qualitative approach is crucial to achieve business innovation in our ever-changing society. While exploring the early stages of a problem space, profound and iterative observations of human behaviors allow designers to discover unusual insights and users’ needs. In this regard, the purpose of this study is to introduce the Needfinding Practice course at KAIST and emphasize the importance of observational research to frame new business opportunities. Main learning goal of this course is to expand the problem finding phase for enhancing students’ creativity and divergent thinking abilities. In this study, we have conducted a literature review on needfinding through observation and how the early stage of design thinking process is related to understanding users deeply. By presenting students’ field research projects, we highlighted the process of identifying unexpected latent needs to gain qualitative data for future business implications.