The Alternating Current of Design Process

Abstract

The prevailing concern for rationality in design processes has tended to overshadow the intuitive aspects of design that are essential for exploring possibilities and for developing creative solutions at every scale. To encourage creativity as well as analytical responsibility, it is important to recognize the relationship between the intuitive and rational modes of thinking. Research indicates that they occur in two different halves of the brain: the intuitive, creative mode on the right, and the rational, analytical mode on the left. In design processes, the two work in a cyclical pattern. The intuitive side proposes and the rational side disposes in an ongoing alternating current. At the same time, a design process can be divided into three distinctive stages, each generally dominated by one side. First is the Stage of Romance—a time of freedom, apprehension, and exploratory excitement—that is dominated by the right side. Then comes the Stage of Precision—a time of information gathering and analysis—dominated by the left. Finally, there is the right-dominated Stage of Generalization in which we imagine possibilities, evaluate and compare them, and finally arrive at a plan.