Design Cognition while using digital tools: A Distributed Cognition Approach

Abstract

The use of digital tools in the conventional architecture design thinking process which derives its basis from sketching is followed in many colleges in India. Various shortcomings due to the integration of digital tools to the manual design process have been enumerated during the past 30 years. Digital tools provide affordances different from the manual sketching design process, the effects of which can be understood by adopting a distributed cognition approach. The paper builds on design cognition research while using externalization tools in the design process. It does so by developing a theoretical framework derived from distributed cognition and an understanding of visual thinking processes from design literature. The paper utilizes the distributed cognition framework by Zhang and Norman, to arrive at resultant affordances of externalization tools in design. The same is then utilized for a protocol study which was coded for its visual thinking components and other relevant codes. The same protocol study was also coded for ideation flow analysis. The findings pointed towards compromised visual thinking and reduced ideation while utilizing digital tools in quick conceptualization.