Inter-disciplinary Engineering Approach to Systems (IdEAS)
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Cambridge
Department Name: Engineering
Abstract
Emerging technologies are science-based innovations with the potential to create, transform or obsolete entire industries. Examples range from 'small-tech' materials constructed at the atomic level through to 'large-tech' infrastructures enabled by the internet and other complex systems. Irrespective of their physical scale, emerging technologies have the potential to drive and support sustained economic growth. For some of these technologies, the projected markets for the middle of the 2020s are enormous: hundreds of billions of US dollars each for nanomaterials, smart grids, industrial biotechnology and plastic electronics. In these areas and others, the UK is in a strong position to lead technology development and commercial exploitation. In particular, small businesses which are so vital to employment and economic stability are well placed to capitalise on technological innovation because of their relative agility. However, realising these opportunities critically depends on the capacity to translate scientific advances and technological developments into product ideas that are suitable for manufacture, distribution and use.
Whilst emerging technologies can be entirely new, they most often result from new combinations of existing technologies, or are analogous to existing systems in some important way. The ability to identify and integrate knowledge, skills and processes from these other systems determines the rate at which the commercial and societal value of emerging technologies is realised. This entails design knowledge and design processes that are flexible and deployable across a broad range of rapidly changing technologies. However, because emerging technologies are potentially so disruptive, they pose a problem to traditional design methods. In particular, they present a three-part challenge of uncertainty, complexity and rapidity: uncertainty because there is no reliable foresight into what kind of technologies should be designed for; complexity because there is increasing interdependence between, and integration of, different types of systems; and rapidity because the rate at which new technologies are being introduced far outstrips the evolution of those previous technologies for which typical engineering design methods were developed.
Because designing for emerging technologies requires methods that can respond to uncertain, complex and rapid developments, there is a need for solution principles that are generally and readily applicable. Innovation could then be promoted if designers were able to review, combine and contrast these principles and apply them to specific technologies. This prompts the question: what design principles can best influence the development of engineering design methodologies for emerging technologies. The project will answer this question, by gaining an understanding of the underpinning systems that emerging technologies are made up of or built into. Multiple system types will be investigated, along with the attributes of those systems and the system behaviours that those attributes promote. Comparative analysis of industrial case studies will show how decisions are made about the trade-off of one principle against another, and will permit the development of guidance that is concrete and actionable. By doing so, the project will provide engineers with the cross-domain knowledge of systems that they require to design for newly emerging technologies and for technologies that have not yet been imagined.
Whilst emerging technologies can be entirely new, they most often result from new combinations of existing technologies, or are analogous to existing systems in some important way. The ability to identify and integrate knowledge, skills and processes from these other systems determines the rate at which the commercial and societal value of emerging technologies is realised. This entails design knowledge and design processes that are flexible and deployable across a broad range of rapidly changing technologies. However, because emerging technologies are potentially so disruptive, they pose a problem to traditional design methods. In particular, they present a three-part challenge of uncertainty, complexity and rapidity: uncertainty because there is no reliable foresight into what kind of technologies should be designed for; complexity because there is increasing interdependence between, and integration of, different types of systems; and rapidity because the rate at which new technologies are being introduced far outstrips the evolution of those previous technologies for which typical engineering design methods were developed.
Because designing for emerging technologies requires methods that can respond to uncertain, complex and rapid developments, there is a need for solution principles that are generally and readily applicable. Innovation could then be promoted if designers were able to review, combine and contrast these principles and apply them to specific technologies. This prompts the question: what design principles can best influence the development of engineering design methodologies for emerging technologies. The project will answer this question, by gaining an understanding of the underpinning systems that emerging technologies are made up of or built into. Multiple system types will be investigated, along with the attributes of those systems and the system behaviours that those attributes promote. Comparative analysis of industrial case studies will show how decisions are made about the trade-off of one principle against another, and will permit the development of guidance that is concrete and actionable. By doing so, the project will provide engineers with the cross-domain knowledge of systems that they require to design for newly emerging technologies and for technologies that have not yet been imagined.
Planned Impact
The IdEAS project will engage with industry, with policy makers and with media agents to ensure that the research is maximally relevant and best presented for impact.
Industry collaboration: Industrial collaborators will initially be drawn from the Cambridge area, the most important entrepreneurial hub in Europe. This area is home to a cluster of companies, that often originate in or have strong links with the University, and many are members of the Cambridge Network, an organisation that promotes collaboration and problem sharing amongst over 1500 company members. The IdEAS project will be registered as a member of the Cambridge Network, thus gaining access to direct communication channels with organisations working at every stage in the technology development process. The national and international contacts of these organisations will then be leveraged to pursue further collaborations.
- http://www.cambridgenetwork.co.uk/
Policy workshops: The IdEAS project will work with the Cambridge Centre for Science and Policy (CSaP), which links researchers directly with the policy professionals who will benefit from understanding the implications of the research. In particular, the project will run two CSaP Policy Workshops on the project theme. These workshops represent a tried and tested formula for bringing policy makers from across relevant governmental organisations together with researchers and industry, allowing highly effective knowledge exchange and network building.
- http://www.csap.cam.ac.uk/programmes/policy-workshops/
Policy fellow: The IdEAS project will work with CSaP to appoint a project-related policy stakeholder or influencer to the role of Policy Fellow. Following the search, identification and recruitment of a suitable individual, CSaP will arrange a series of meetings with approximately 30 researchers as part of an "immersion week". CSaP will also support further networking activities in order to engage the Fellow over the two-year duration of the Fellowship.
- http://www.csap.cam.ac.uk/programmes/policy-fellowships/
Film production: The IdEAS project will work with Living Projects (LP), a bespoke film production company. They will create broadcast quality videos tailored to educate industry, the public, the media and policy makers about the implications of designing for emerging technologies. LP will work to produce a series of high-impact films that can be distributed across multiple platforms and that exploit the power of social media. These films will be scripted and produced for effective communication with a range of specific audiences.
- http://www.living-projects.co.uk/
Infographics: The IdEAS project will work with the technological trend bureau, Envisioning Technology (ET), in communicating about the technology landscape and the implications of designing for emerging technologies. ET will construct interactive infographics for websites (with static and animated equivalents for print and video). These will communicate the research findings to the media, the public, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and industry, encouraging their involvement with the project.
- http://envisioningtech.com/
Industry collaboration: Industrial collaborators will initially be drawn from the Cambridge area, the most important entrepreneurial hub in Europe. This area is home to a cluster of companies, that often originate in or have strong links with the University, and many are members of the Cambridge Network, an organisation that promotes collaboration and problem sharing amongst over 1500 company members. The IdEAS project will be registered as a member of the Cambridge Network, thus gaining access to direct communication channels with organisations working at every stage in the technology development process. The national and international contacts of these organisations will then be leveraged to pursue further collaborations.
- http://www.cambridgenetwork.co.uk/
Policy workshops: The IdEAS project will work with the Cambridge Centre for Science and Policy (CSaP), which links researchers directly with the policy professionals who will benefit from understanding the implications of the research. In particular, the project will run two CSaP Policy Workshops on the project theme. These workshops represent a tried and tested formula for bringing policy makers from across relevant governmental organisations together with researchers and industry, allowing highly effective knowledge exchange and network building.
- http://www.csap.cam.ac.uk/programmes/policy-workshops/
Policy fellow: The IdEAS project will work with CSaP to appoint a project-related policy stakeholder or influencer to the role of Policy Fellow. Following the search, identification and recruitment of a suitable individual, CSaP will arrange a series of meetings with approximately 30 researchers as part of an "immersion week". CSaP will also support further networking activities in order to engage the Fellow over the two-year duration of the Fellowship.
- http://www.csap.cam.ac.uk/programmes/policy-fellowships/
Film production: The IdEAS project will work with Living Projects (LP), a bespoke film production company. They will create broadcast quality videos tailored to educate industry, the public, the media and policy makers about the implications of designing for emerging technologies. LP will work to produce a series of high-impact films that can be distributed across multiple platforms and that exploit the power of social media. These films will be scripted and produced for effective communication with a range of specific audiences.
- http://www.living-projects.co.uk/
Infographics: The IdEAS project will work with the technological trend bureau, Envisioning Technology (ET), in communicating about the technology landscape and the implications of designing for emerging technologies. ET will construct interactive infographics for websites (with static and animated equivalents for print and video). These will communicate the research findings to the media, the public, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and industry, encouraging their involvement with the project.
- http://envisioningtech.com/
People |
ORCID iD |
| Nathan Crilly (Principal Investigator / Fellow) |
Publications
Neroni M
(2020)
How to Guard Against Fixation? Demonstrating Individual Vulnerability is More Effective Than Warning of General Risk
in The Journal of Creative Behavior
Neroni, M. A.
(2017)
Studying design fixation with a computer-based task
Oti A
(2021)
Immersive 3D sketching tools: Implications for visual thinking and communication
in Computers & Graphics
Taysom E
(2017)
Resilience in Sociotechnical Systems: The Perspectives of Multiple Stakeholders
in She Ji: The Journal of Design, Economics, and Innovation
Taysom E
(2018)
Systemic Design - Theory, Methods, and Practice
Taysom, E.
(2014)
Diagrammatic Representation of System Lifecycle Properties
in 4th International Engineering Systems Symposium
Töre Yargin G
(2018)
User requirements for analogical design support tools: Learning from practitioners of bio-inspired design
in Design Studies
Töre Yargin G
(2015)
Information and interaction requirements for software tools supporting analogical design
in Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design, Analysis and Manufacturing
| Description | 1) System properties. The properties that systems exhibit such as modularity, redundancy, resilience and robustness can be difficult to understand and relate to each other. This is especially the case when considering types of system (such as biological systems or technological systems) that are seemingly very different but exhibit similar properties. By reviewing how system properties are considered and applied across different disciplines, we have collected and developed representations of system properties that distinguish and relate them. Holding workshops and conducting interview studies with various stakeholders has additionally revealed the key aspects of resilience that must be communicated and the diagrammatic tools that can assist in that. // 2) Tool requirements. Much design research seeks to develop tools for designers to use in their work (e.g. tools that provide information or inspiration). In such cases, designers are the users of tools and researchers are the developers of tools. However, there is very little work on the user requirements that designers have for the tools that researchers develop. We have collected and related the user requirements across various fields, especially human computer interaction, creativity support and analogical design. As a result, we now have a much clearer understanding of what tool users require and what trade-offs must be negotiated in meeting those requirements. This has been validated and extended with a study of professional designers and inventors, reporting on their practices, expectations and preferences. Consequently, tool developers now have a much stronger foundation upon which to build the use cases that are most relevant to their work. This should result in better tools and better outcomes from tool use. // 3) Design fixation. Knowledge of existing solutions can hinder innovation. This had previously been researched through controlled experiments that lacked a strong connection to industrial practice. By conducting qualitative research with expert designers, we have described the phenomenon of design fixation as it relates to the many factors that shape design projects (including people, organisations, processes, tools, etc.). In particular, we find that recognising fixation episodes and reflecting on them can be the means by which designers guard against such episodes in the future and thus become more creative. Furthermore, we have developed new a new experimental paradigm that permits for a much more controlled investigation of the phenomena of interest. // 3b) Fixation research methods. Researchers have traditionally studied design fixation using an experimental paradigm derived from the first studies conducted in the 1990s. Researchers set participants open-ended design problems, prime them with an example solution, and measure their performance (and the influence of the example) through a variety of subjective metrics. This approach gives rise to various problems, including limited data capture and highly subjective evaluation of design behavior. To address these problems, we have developed a computer-based task inspired by psychological paradigms used to study "mental set" (also known as the "Einstellung effect"). The task consisted of a game-like activity requiring participants to design a bridge within a specified budget. The use of a digital environment facilitated continuous data capture during the design activities. The constrained task (and direct quantitative measures) permitted a more objective analysis of design performance, including the occurrence of fixation. We have used this method to demonstrate that it is the personal costs that are sunk into a design that cause fixation (not those costs that are sunk by others). Our recent work has demonstrated that some of the advantages of computer-based tasks can be retained when using Virtual Reality platforms to study design activities, whilst flexibility and realism are enhanced (compared to simple 2D games).// 3c) Fixation in research. The study of design fixation 'in the wild' and the development of new methods for studying design fixation 'in the lab' led to an analysis of the potential for design fixation researchers themselves to be fixated on their own (experimental) research methods. This analysis supported the proposal that design fixation researchers should widen their methods to better describe the phenomenon of interest. // 4) Complex Design. Design approaches are adopted when addressing many complex problems. However, it is not always clear when the approaches applied to one complex problem might be applied to another. By studying design practices in the fields of Synthetic Biology and Swarm Robotics, a framework has been developed that allows users to identify the ways in which complexity is being characterised, the design objectives that are held and the design approaches that are employed. This helps to see beyond superficial similarities and differences in complex design problems to see where practices can be shared. To assist with this we have worked with a science communication agency to publish a freely available 'primer' on complex systems and published a short animated film to attract a wider audience. // 5) Entrepreneurial Pivoting. Technology entrepreneurs are often described as 'pivoting' when changing from one business direction to another. A series of interviews were conducted with technology entrepreneurs (founding or working with startups) and the advisors who guide them (often serial entrepreneurs themselves). The interviews focussed on how entrepreneurs set, maintain and change ('pivot') the direction of their ventures. This showed that entrepreneurs must balance an open, flexible, opportunistic approach with the need to be persistent, tenacious and committed. For entrepreneurs and their advisors, managing this tension is made more challenging by a range of individual factors (e.g. excessive confidence, avoiding information) and organisational factors (e.g. the absence of hard constraints, inflexible business offerings). // 6) Virtual Reality Sketching. Recent developments in Virtual Reality (VR) Sketching technologies permit users (e.g. designers) to draw free-hand directly in three-dimensional space with relatively little cost. This has the potential to permit creative visualisations of objects and spaces without the need for intermediate two-dimensional representations (such as paper sketches or CAD models). Most research on VR Sketching has focussed on the development of the technologies (features and functionality) rather than on the user experience of these technologies. To explore the potential advantages of VR sketching in visual thinking and visual communication, we conducted investigations with sixteen architectural students engaged in paper-based sketching and VR sketching tasks. Our observations show that VR sketching is a unique form of visual representation that facilitates the rapid and flexible creation of large and detailed (but inaccurate) 3D computer models. It is a multimodal medium that supports visual thinking and communication behaviors associated with paper sketching, CAD modeling, physical model-making, and gesturing, all within the same space. This unique combination enables users to engage in visual thinking and visual communication activities in ways that cannot presently be achieved with any other single representation technique. |
| Exploitation Route | 1) System properties. The representations that we have developed can be used to support communication between diverse stakeholders in a systems design/analysis project. // 2) Tool requirements. The user requirements that we have collected and related can be used by researchers to develop more effective and more readily accepted design support tools (especially for analogical design, such as biomimetics). // 3) Design fixation. The qualitative account of fixation that we have developed can be used by researchers to plan more focussed fixation studies. It can also be used by the developers of design and innovation techniques to frame their work in ways that best gain acceptance by practitioners. Our new experimental paradigm can be used by researchers to conduct more controlled creativity experiments. // 3b) Fixation research methods. Other researchers might choose to add the method we have developed into their suite of research tools when studying fixation-like behaviours. This could be design researchers (thus using a method that is more typical of psychological research) or psychologists (interested in practical examples of the effects of 'mental set'). // 4) Complex Design. The fields of Synthetic Biology and Swarm Robotics might directly use the framework developed to better understand the variations within each field and the connections between them. Other fields might also use the framework for similar purposes, with or without some modification. The primer we have published might be used by a broad range of practitioners to better understand what they and others mean by complexity. The animated film we have published could allow a broad range of educators and trainers to communicate about the subjective nature of complexity. // 5. Entrepreneurial Pivoting. Our findings suggest that the pivot can usefully be considered as a creative act, leveraging concepts of fixation to explain how opportunities to pivot might be overlooked or avoided. Other creative practices outside entrepreneurship might therefore employ the idea of pivoting as a model for promoting conceptual change. In particular, designers might be encouraged to employ pivoting strategies in their design work. // 6. Virtual Reality Sketching. Our findings suggest that VR Sketching Tool Developers should focus on the application of the tools to idea generation and exploration (rather than replacing CAD modelling). Professionals involved in creative design might consider including VR Sketching tools in their workflow, especially where contributions are required from people who are not trained in drawing (e.g. non-designer clients). |
| Sectors | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Construction,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Financial Services, and Management Consultancy,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Transport,Other |
| URL | http://complexityprimer.eng.cam.ac.uk/ |
| Description | The findings have been used in a new educational initiative, delivering training to mid-career professionals. In 2021, the PI developed a new online course titled Creativity, Problem Solving and Design Thinking. This launched in 2022 on the Cambridge Advance Online platform. The course is aimed at mid-career professionals and is available for world-wide participation through asynchronous and synchronous participation. The course draws extensively on work conducted in the IdEAS project, including work on design fixation, visual thinking and systems thinking. In its first year, the course has delivered training to professionals across a broad range of sectors, including management consultancy, healthcare, legal services, education, design and Innovation. These professionals apply the course learnings to their own work, to identify and pursue new opportunities, improving the efficiency and effectiveness of their organisations. https://advanceonline.cam.ac.uk/courses/creativity-problem-solving-and-design-thinking |
| First Year Of Impact | 2022 |
| Sector | Creative Economy,Education,Financial Services, and Management Consultancy,Healthcare,Government, Democracy and Justice,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections,Other |
| Impact Types | Societal,Policy & public services |
| Description | Online course |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | In its first year, the course has delivered training to professionals across a broad range of sectors, including management consultancy, healthcare, legal services, education, design and Innovation. These professionals apply the course learnings to their own work, to identify and pursue new opportunities, improving the efficiency and effectiveness of their organisations. |
| URL | https://advanceonline.cam.ac.uk/courses/creativity-problem-solving-and-design-thinking |
| Description | Cambridge Commonwealth European and International Trust (travel award) |
| Amount | £400 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Cambridge |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | |
| Description | Conference Grant (Clare Hall) |
| Amount | £107 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Cambridge |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | |
| Description | Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) Innovation Fellowship |
| Amount | £11,523 (GBP) |
| Organisation | ESRC Impact Acceleration Account Cambridge |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2018 |
| End | 03/2018 |
| Description | W G Collins Endowment Fund |
| Amount | £666 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Cambridge |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | |
| Title | Computer-based tool for studying design fixation |
| Description | The term "design fixation" refers to a phenomenon where designers unknowingly limit the space within which they search for solutions. In an attempt to study this phenomenon experimentally, researchers typically set participants open-ended design problems, prime them with an example solution, and measure their performance through a variety of subjective metrics. This approach gives rise to various problems, including limited data capture and highly subjective evaluation of design behavior. To address these problems, we developed a computer-based task inspired by psychological paradigms used to study "mental set" (also known as the "Einstellung effect"). The task consists of a game-like activity requiring participants to design a bridge within a specified budget. The use of a digital environment facilitates continuous data capture during the design activities. The constrained task (and direct quantitative measures) permit a more objective analysis of design performance, including the occurrence of fixation. |
| Type Of Material | Model of mechanisms or symptoms - human |
| Year Produced | 2017 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Since developed, this method has subsequently been used to study the cognitive mechanisms that underlie design fixation (sunk cost effects and psychological ownership). This was not possible with the preceding methods used in the field. |
| URL | https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/263560 |
| Title | Data supporting "How to guard against fixation? Demonstrating individual vulnerability is more effective than warning of general risk" |
| Description | |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/307924 |
| Title | Explicit instructions in design inspiration and fixation studies |
| Description | Data collected from a medium-scale experiment (N = 303) conducted with undergraduate engineering students at the University of Cambridge (Engineering Department) in 2015. The data consists of participants' sketches (scans) and the assessment performed by the judges (spreadsheets). |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | Research findings associated with this data has been presented at at two conference (International Conference on Design Creativity and Design, Computing and Cognition). The data is embargoed until the publication of the research papers associated with the data. |
| Title | Explicit instructions in design inspiration and fixation studies - CUED participants |
| Description | Data collected from a medium-scale experiment (N = 303) conducted with students from the University of Cambridge (Engineering Department) in 2015. The data consists of participants ideas (scans) and the assessment done by judges (spreadsheets). |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2017 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Title | Inspiration and fixation: comparing the influences of example designs and design principles in idea generation |
| Description | Data collected from a small-scale experiment (N = 60) conducted with Masters students in Industrial Design Engineering at the Technical University of Delft - TUDelft, The Netherlands. The data consists of participants' skethces (scans) and the assessment performed by the judges (spreadsheets). |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2016 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The data was used in research published in the Journal of Mechanical Design. |
| URL | https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/255005 |
| Title | Research data supporting "Computer-Based "Mental Set Tasks": An Alternative Approach to Studying Design Fixation". |
| Description | This is an excel file containing the numerical data resulting from the scoring of the videos recorded during each experimental session. The videos are not available for ethical reasons. The excel file includes several spreadsheets, whose naming corresponds to the various set of results reported in the publication (Open-ended 'mental set' tasks: An alternative approach to studying design fixation). In each spreadsheet, the column headings are self-explanatory, provided you also have the corresponding publication given above as a reference. The data was collected from July to October 2016 from 40 undergraduate and postgraduate students with an engineering background at the University of Cambridge, UK. Participants were tested individually and received £10 for your participation. They were initially told that the study aimed at investigating how people played computer games. The real aim of the study was revealed to the participants at the end of each experimental session, during the debriefing phase. Demographic data was collected from the participants and are reported in the first spreadsheet of the file. The study was approved by the local Ethical Committee and the participants signed a Consent Form before starting with the experiment. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2017 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Title | Research data supporting "Enhancing creativity by demonstrating individual vulnerability to fixation" |
| Description | |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/304173 |
| Title | Research data supporting "Idea representation and elaboration in design inspiration and fixation experiments" |
| Description | Data from three separate small-scale experiments (N = 55; 30; 58) conducted with students from the University of Cambridge (Engineering Department) and from Delft University of Technology (Industrial Design Engineering). The data consists of participants ideas (scans) and the assessment done by judges (spreadsheets). |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2017 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Title | Research data supporting "Methodological diversity and theoretical integration: research in design fixation as an example of fixation in research design?" |
| Description | This data supports an article titled "Methodological diversity and theoretical integration: research in design fixation as an example of fixation in research design?". There is one explanatory document and two Comma-Separated Values (CSV) files. All files are related to the production of a citation map which is presented in the research article. The citation map is for publications related to design fixation. Texts relevant to design fixation are represented as nodes. Edges (links) between nodes represent citations from one text to another. This work was partly supported by the UK's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/K008196/1). |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Title | Research data supporting "Studying design fixation with a computer-based task" |
| Description | This is an excel file containing the numerical data resulting from the scoring of the videos recorded during each experimental session. The videos are not available for ethical reasons. The excel file includes several spreadsheets, whose naming corresponds to the various set of results reported in the publication (Open-ended 'mental set' tasks: An alternative approach to studying design fixation). In each spreadsheet, the column headings are self-explanatory, provided you also have the corresponding publication given above as a reference. The data was collected from July to October 2016 from 40 undergraduate and postgraduate students with an engineering background at the University of Cambridge, UK. Participants were tested individually and received £10 for your participation. They were initially told that the study aimed at investigating how people played computer games. The real aim of the study was revealed to the participants at the end of each experimental session, during the debriefing phase. Demographic data was collected from the participants and are reported in the first spreadsheet of the file. The study was approved by the local Ethical Committee and the participants signed a Consent Form before starting with the experiment. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2017 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Title | Research data supporting "Whose ideas are most fixating, your own or other people's? The effect of idea agency on subsequent design behaviour". |
| Description | This excel file contains: i) the numerical data resulting from the scoring of the videos recorded during each experimental session, ii) the participants' comments collected through the 'think aloud' method, and iii) the participants' responses to the post-experimental questions. The videos and the audio-recordings are not available for ethical reasons. The file includes several spreadsheets, whose naming corresponds to the various set of results reported in the publication (Whose ideas are most fixating, your own or other people's? Sunk cost effects and psychological ownership in design ideation). In each spreadsheet, the column headings are self-explanatory, provided you also have the corresponding publication given above as a reference. The data was collected from January to May 2017 from 40 engineering students at the University of Cambridge, UK. Participants were tested individually and received £10 for your participation. They were initially told that the study aimed at investigating how people played computer games. The real aim of the study was revealed to the participants at the end of each experimental session, during the debriefing phase. Demographic data was collected from the participants and are reported in the first spreadsheet of the file. The study was approved by the local Ethical Committee and the participants signed a Consent Form before starting with the experiment. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Title | Research data supporting Virtual reality design-build-test games with physics simulation: opportunities for researching design cognition |
| Description | The research methods are described in the publication. The data were collected in February 2018 during two exploratory workshops conducted at the Department of Engineering of the University of Cambridge (UK). This spreadsheet file contains the descriptive and numerical data resulting from the participants' performance in the conception generation phase, first build & test phase and second build & test phase of the two workshops. In the spreadsheet, the column headings correspond to the methods described in the publication. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/322311 |
| Title | Supplementary data for research paper titled "Immersive 3D sketching tools: implications for visual thinking and communication" by Oti & Crilly |
| Description | |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/309324 |
| Description | Branda/4DLabs provide Access to Vancouver technology community |
| Organisation | Simon Fraser University |
| Country | Canada |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Dr Crilly conducted a series of interviews with the Vancouver Technology Entrepreneurship community and wrote the subsequent report. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Prof. Branda of 4DLabs provided access to the Vancouver Technology Entrepreneurship community, arranged a series of research interviews, hosted the researcher during his stay. and reviewed the subsequent report. |
| Impact | A research report was written on the interview study. This has been submitted to a journal for publication and is under review. |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | Design Science |
| Organisation | Design Science, Inc |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | The research team drafted the initial text and images for a 'primer' on the design and science of complex systems. Although not intended for a general audience, the objective was to address an audience that was broader than that which such material is normally aimed at. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Design Science worked with the research team to translate ideas about system complexity into more accessible material. New illustrations were produced and integrated into the examples that ran through the primer. |
| Impact | The primer was launched online in October 2016 and received 1500 webpage hits in its first week. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | METU/Töre Yargin collaborates on software tool research |
| Organisation | Middle East Technical University |
| Country | Turkey |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Dr Töre Yargin visited the project for 12 months collaborating on a research project focussed on user requirements for software tools providing design information. The research team participated in the project by offering feedback on the work in progress and co-authoring the resulting paper. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Dr Töre Yargin was the lead researcher on the project. |
| Impact | Dr Töre Yargin and Dr Crilly published a journal article on the results of the study (Information and interaction requirements for software tools supporting analogical design, Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design, Analysis and Manufacturing, 2015, 29(02), 203-214). Dr Töre Yargin successfully applied for an Assistant Professor role at METU after completing her time with the project. |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | TU Delft/Dr Carlos Cardoso |
| Organisation | Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) |
| Department | Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Collaborated in the organisation of a research workshop to define the future of studies into design creativity. Collaborated on empirical studies into design creativity. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Collaborated in the organisation of a research workshop to define the future of studies into design creativity. Collaborated on empirical studies into design creativity. |
| Impact | The research workshop was highly interdisciplinary, with participants self-identifying as having expertise in the following areas: • various branches of design, including engineering design, complex design, industrial design, fashion design and architecture, with special attention to design creativity, design fixation, inspiration in design, design cognition, design reasoning, design philosophy, design methodology, design processes, design models; • various branches of psychology, including cognitive psychology, human factors psychology, health psychology and design psychology, with special attention to human mind and memory processes, problem solving, planning, expertise, habits and goals. The workshop is reported in: Crilly, N., & Cardoso, C. (2017). Where next for research on fixation, inspiration and creativity in design? Design Studies, 50, 1-38. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.destud.2017.02.001 --- The empirical studies into design creativity involved design researchers and those expert in statistical analysis. The output from the study is reported in: Vasconcelos, L. A., Cardoso, C. C., Sääksjärvi, M., Chen, C.-C., & Crilly, N. (2017). Inspiration and fixation: the influences of example designs and system properties in idea generation. Journal of Mechanical Design, 139(3), 031101. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4035540 |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Animation: "When is a system complex?" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Worked with an animator and film production company to make a short film explaining the subjectivity of complexity. Published on the University of Cambridge YouTube channel on March 12, 2018 and attracting 2,445 views up to February 4, 2019. The video description reads: "Flocking birds, weather patterns, commercial organisations, swarming robots... Increasingly, many of the systems that we want to engineer or understand are said to be 'complex'. But what does this mean? How do these so-called 'complex systems' differ from the more easily understood systems that we are familiar with? Visit: http://complexityprimer.eng.cam.ac.uk for more on complexity and modularity." |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7Hf6VfsJ0U |
| Description | Blog post Synthetic Biology |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Interdisciplinary engagement, with researchers based in Engineering writing a blog post for the Cambridge Synthetic Biology website. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | http://www.synbio.cam.ac.uk/news/complex-design-practices |
| Description | Blog post on complexity |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Published a blog post on Robohub, describing how swarm roboticists can contribute to and benefit from the wisdom of other disciplines. This promoted the complexity 'primer' that we had published. Robohub describe 'themselves' as "a non-profit online communication platform that brings together experts in robotics research, start-ups, business, and education from across the globe. Our mission at Robohub is to connect the robotics community to the rest of the world. Content-area specialists curate all incoming articles to make sure that reporting is truthful, fair and balanced, and in-house editors ensure that all content meets the highest editorial standards for language and clarity. Embedded comments, and an active presence on Google+, Facebook and Twitter further help to promote discussion and debate." |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | http://robohub.org/how-can-swarm-roboticists-contribute-to-and-benefit-from-the-wisdom-of-other-disc... |
| Description | Creativity talk to local company |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Dr Crilly and Dr Neroni gave a talk on concepts related to "Creativity and Fixation" at a local Cambridge Design, Technology and Innovation Consultancy (February 2018). Around a dozen employees were present. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Fixation lecture to students at TU Delft |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Lecture delivered to 150 design students at TU Delft, The Netherlands. The topic was 'Design Fixation', introducing the students to the barriers to creativity. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Government Digital Service 'Lunch-and-Learn' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Eloise Taysom presented research on (socio-technical) system resilience at Government Digital Service's 'Lunch-and-Learn' session. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | https://twitter.com/dgheath21/status/794543442546270208 |
| Description | Individual meetings with policy makers |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Regular one-to-one meetings with Policy Fellows visiting the Cambridge Centre for Science and Policy. The research team working on the IdEAS projected discussed various project-related themes with Vladimir Šucha (Director-General of the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission), David Wilkinson (Director of Policy Support Coordination for the Joint Research Centre, European Commission), Dr Fabrizio Sestini (Team Leader, Collective Awareness Platforms for Sustainability and Social Innovation, and Internet Science, European Commission DG Connect), Louise Owen (Deputy Head S&T Strategy - Engagement, Ministry of Defence); Alice Newton (Associate Product Manager for GOV.UK Policy and Departments, Government Digital Service), Chris Carr (Deputy Director Manufacturing, Services & Electronics, Department for Business Innovation and Skills), John Taysom (Angel Investor, and Fellow, Advanced Leadership Initiative at Harvard University), Rupert Cryer (Assistant Director at Cabinet Office), Chris Pook (Regional Director for UK Trade and Investment and the FCO Prosperity Network in South-East Asia at Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO)), Jeff Masters (Policy Adviser to Shadow Business Secretary, Chuka Umunna MP), Hannah Rignell (Head of Community Action, Government Innovation Group at Cabinet Office), Dr Andrea Siodmok (Head of Policy Lab at Cabinet Office), Richard Sandford (Head of Horizon Scanning at Government Office for Science). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014,2015,2016 |
| URL | http://www.csap.cam.ac.uk/network/nathan-crilly/ |
| Description | Meeting policy fellows through the Cambridge Centre for Science and Policy |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Nathan Crilly undertook a series of one-to-one meetings with policy makers (although sometimes including other members of the research group). The meetings involve finding connections between research and government. Meetings have so far been held with: Dr Andrew Chilvers (Royal Academy of Engineering); Shaarad Sharma (Royal Academy of Engineering); Hannah Rignell (Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, BEIS); Richard Sandford (Department for International Trade); Dr Andrea Siodmok (Cabinet Office); Rupert Cryer (Cabinet Office); John Taysom (Privitar Ltd.); Alice Newton (Worldremit); Chris Carr (Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, BEIS); Professor Vladimir Sucha (European Commission, DG JRC); Louise Owen (Home Office); Dr Fabrizio Sestini (European Commission); Jeff Masters (Policy Adviser to Shadow Business Secretary, Chuka Umunna MP); Chris Pook (Foreign & Commonwealth Office, FCO). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014,2015,2016,2017,2018 |
| URL | http://www.csap.cam.ac.uk/network/nathan-crilly/ |
| Description | Outreach Competition |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Eloise Taysom participated in (and won) the RAEng sponsored competition called 'I'm an Engineer get me out of here'. this involved online discussions with school children about Eloise's work. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | http://about.imanengineer.org.uk/files/2016/07/Kilogram-Zone-Report-J16.pdf |
| Description | Policy Workshop on Making Systems Resilient |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | A policy workshop was run with the Cambridge Centre for Science and Policy on the theme of "Making Systems Resilient". The workshop was chaired by Sir John O'Reilly, Director General for Knowledge and Innovation in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Twenty-one policy makers, academics and industry practitioners participated in the workshop. They collectively represented a diverse set of government departments and industry sectors and fields, including defence, space systems, transport, urban planning, health care, and psychology. Although from very different fields of expertise, the participants all worked on complex socio-technical systems and were concerned with how to make those systems more resilient. This permitted the exchange of information and perspectives across traditional boundaries. The participants reported gaining valuable insights from the workshop that had stimulated thinking about their own daily roles. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://www.csap.cam.ac.uk/news/article-csap-policy-workshop-making-systems-resilient-4-de/ |
| Description | Press release on research results |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A press release was issued to publicise the the research results reported in Dr Crilly's journal article (Fixation and creativity in concept development: the attitudes and practices of expert designers, Design Studies, 2015, 38, 54-91). The work was subsequently the exclusive subject of an article in the leading business magazine 'Fast Company', which was 'shared' 1200 times in the first week. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://www.fastcodesign.com/3044535/what-is-design-fixation-and-how-can-you-stop-it |
| Description | Published a 'primer' on the design and science of complex systems |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Engaged with science communication agency to produce a more attractive and accessible version of a research report. Added examples and illustrations and formatted for distribution. Freely available through the Cambridge University Repository |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | http://complexityprimer.eng.cam.ac.uk/ |
| Description | School talk on resilience |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Eloise Taysom presented research on the resilience of socio-technical systems at a local school (Perse School, Cambridge). Twenty students, staff and parents attended. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Supporting Policy Lab engagement |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Dr Andrea Siodmok (Head of Policy Lab, Cabinet Office) was awarded a Policy Fellowship by the Cambridge Centre for Science and Policy (proposed and funded by the project). This involves two visits to Cambridge (in January and March 2016), with a programme of 14 bespoke meetings between Dr Siodmok and academics held in January and a similar number to be held in March. These meetings are arranged to assist Dr Siodmok to address issues that she faces in her work and will help Dr Crilly to organise a future Policy Workshop on related themes. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | http://www.csap.cam.ac.uk/network/andrea-siodmok/ |
| Description | Talk to technical architects |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Eloise Taysom delivered a talk on the resilience of socio-technical systems to a group of technical architects working in government. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Talk to the synthetic biology community |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Dr Chih-Chun Chen delivered a talk at the monthly meetup for the Cambridge synthetic biology community. She discussed design/engineering perspectives on the Synthetic Biology |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | http://www.synbio.cam.ac.uk/events/Cafe_Synthetique_15August |
| Description | Talks to policy makers on a retreat |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Nathan Crilly delivered talks on "creativity" and "communication" to twenty policy makers on a retreat to Cambridge to focus on a challenge relevant to the civil service. The retreat was organised with the Cambridge Centre for Science and Policy. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |