The Effectiveness of Interior Design Students' Study Drawings in the Design Process

Visualization is an important part of the design process. The sketches that are created during the design process are the visible evidence of the visualization that occurs in the brain. The process of designing involves a conversation that occurs between the student and the sketches created during problem finding and problem solving in the design process.

This conversation allows the student to progress through the design process manipulating both the drawn image on paper and the visualization that occurs in their mind until a fitting solution to the problem is found. This study sought a better understanding of this communication style and it's effect on designed final products.

Two methods of analysis were utilized in this research. Quantitative analysis was used to measure the correlation between quality of sketching process and the quality of the final designed product. Then multiple case studies were examined to describe in detail the design process styles of three students. First the sketches that were created during the designing of a student project were counted and then evaluated for sketch creativity and sketch efficacy. The final design products were evaluated for project creativeness and project function. Significant positive statistical correlations between the variables were observed.

In summary, the quality of sketches and visual thinking during the design process had a measurable positive effect on the final designed solution.