In the early stages designers employ metaphors, allow ideas to remain open, and identify requirements and frame a problem. Although design has been an abiding interest in the CHI community, we lack a firm understanding of these cognitive modes, the processes of early design, and the types of computational support they imply. This workshop aims to address this lack, by bringing together practicing designers from diverse domains, cognitive scientists and HCI researchers who study designing, and system builders who construct tools for early stages of design.
External representations are one focus of the workshop.
In many domains, sketching, diagramming, and free arrangement of physical components play an important role in early stage design.