An exploration of how creativity, functionality, and aesthetics are related in design

Creativity is considered to have a significant impact on the design process and its outcomes, while aesthetics and functionality are considered key characteristics of products. A relationship between creativity, aesthetics and functionality is, therefore, often assumed, however, researchers view the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Research in engineering design 2021-07, Vol.32 (3), p.289-307
Main Authors: Han, Ji, Forbes, Hannah, Schaefer, Dirk
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
CAE) and Design
Computer-Aided Engineering (CAD
Correlation coefficients
Creativity
Design analysis
Design engineering
Engineering
Engineering Design
Industrial design
Original Paper
Product design
Product development
Statistical analysis
Statistical methods
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Summary:Creativity is considered to have a significant impact on the design process and its outcomes, while aesthetics and functionality are considered key characteristics of products. A relationship between creativity, aesthetics and functionality is, therefore, often assumed, however, researchers view the relations between creativity, functionality and aesthetics differently. In this paper, the authors present first evidence that novelty, usefulness and surprise are the core elements of design creativity. The aim of this research is the exploration of the relations between functionality, aesthetics, novelty, usefulness, surprise, and overall creativity, by means of an experimental case study involving design experts evaluating forty-five design samples. Statistical analysis has been conducted to investigate and understand these relations. The results obtained indicate that aesthetics has a significant positive relationship with creativity but that functionality does not have a statistically significant relationship with creativity in general. Further analysis confirms that design creativity is strongly and positively related to novelty and surprise, but not significantly related to usefulness. In addition, high correlation coefficient values have revealed that creativity, novelty and surprise are perceived as the same dimension as are functionality and usefulness. This paper may be of interest to researchers, practitioners, and educators in the broader realm of design, including industrial design, creativity in design, engineering design, design innovation, product design and new product development. It provides new insights into how creativity is perceived within the field and offers a new point of view on creativity and its dimensions for the community to meditate and to debate.
ISSN:0934-9839
1435-6066
DOI:10.1007/s00163-021-00366-9