ABSTRACT
Design is a complex activity with connections to many cognitive mechanisms. It is a dynamic and challenging process. Design can be seen as a “purposeful, constrained, decision making, exploration and learning activity” (Gero, 1994). It is purposeful in the sense that the designer has a goal to achieve, whether this goal is to designing a building, a spoon or a book cover. It is constrained because the chosen domain provides functional, structural and behavioural restrictions that must be obeyed. The designer must also explore the possible design space and be open to possible transformations of this space. At the same time, many of the constraints and affordances of this design space are based on the designers perception. During the development of the design, these perceptions change and with them does the design space. The designer is therefore exploring a design space that changes because of this exploration.
