ABSTRACT
Computers have the potential to be tools that enhance creativity. But most of the current systems have not lived up to these expectations— they have restricted rather than enhanced creativity. Designers were forced to express their goals, ideas, and (partial) solutions at levels that were too remote from the problem domains they were dealing with. To overcome these limitations, conceptual framework and prototypical systems that allow designers to work with personal meaningful operations have been developed. Beyond providing domain-specific abstractions, these knowledge-based design environments can evaluate and criticize an evolving design and provide feedback to the designer. They integrate constructive and argumentative components. Support for end-user modifiability allows designers to extend the environments themselves. Knowledge-based design environments turn the computer into an invisible instrument and support cooperative problem solving between the human designer and the computer.
