Professor John S. Gero

Designing is one of the most significant of the purposeful cognitive acts of humans. Surprisingly little is known about it. This research area draws from cognitive science and applied psychology and extends techniques used in those disciplines to make them more useful in the study and elucidation of designing. The primary tool is the protocol study or protocol analysis. Here the designer is studied while carrying out designing tasks, generally in a laboratory setting although increasingly in situ.

We have been examining the cognitive activities of designers using the Function-Behavior-Structure ontology that provides a framework for understanding what is happening in design terms. This is giving us insight into where designers spend their cognitive effort.

We have extended existing protocol analysis tools through the development of new coding schemes and have developed new analysis tools based on entropy measurements of design activities.

Funding comes from NSF.

We examine fundamental cognitive behaviors while designing. Projects include:

fixation effects on designing

role of education on design behavior

role of sketching in designing

role of imagery in designing

role of external representations in designing

role of experience in designing

team and collaborative behavior

effect of the introduction of varying levels of technology on designing

methods for acquiring knowledge from protocols

Home

Publications

Papers that describe some of the research methods and some of the main fundings

Bilda, Z, Gero, JS and Purcell, T (2006) To sketch or not to sketch? That is the question, Design Studies 27(5): 587-613 . (pdf)

Gero, JS and Jiang, H (2016) Exploring the design cognition of concept design reviews using the FBS-based protocol analysis, in RS Adams and JA Siddiqui (eds), Analyzing Design Review Conversations, Purdue University Press. DOI: 10.5703/1288284315931(pdf)

Gero, JS, Kan, JWT and Pourmohamadi, M (2011) Analysing design protocols: Development of methods and tools, in A Chakrabarti (ed), Research into Design, Research Publishing, pp. 3-10 (pdf)

Gero, JS and McNeill, T (1998) An approach to the analysis of design protocols, Design Studies 19(1): 21-61. (pdf)

Jiang, H, Gero, JS and Yen, CC (2014) Exploring designing styles using Problem-Solution indexes, in JS Gero (ed), Design Computing and Cognition'12, Springer, pp. 85-101. (pdf )

Kan, J and Gero, JS (2008) Acquiring information from linkography in protocol studies of designers, Design Studies 29(4): 315-337. (pdf)

Kan, JWT and Gero JS (2009) Using the FBS ontology to capture semantic design information in design protocol studies, in J McDonnell and P Lloyd (eds), About: Designing. Analysing Design Meetings, CRC Press, pp. 213-229. (pdf)

Kan, JWT and Gero, JS (2017) Characterizing innovative processes in design spaces through measuring the information entropy of empirical data from protocol studies, AIEDAM (doi: 10.1017/S0890060416000548). (pdf)

Purcell, T. and Gero, J. S. (1998) Drawings and the design process: A review of protocol studies in design and other disciplines and related research in cognitive psychology, Design Studies 19(4): 389-430. (pdf)

Song, T, Becker, K, Gero, J, Deberard, S, Lawanto, O and Reeve, E (2016) Problem decomposition and recomposition in engineering design: A comparison of design behavior between professional engineers, engineering seniors, and engineering freshmen, Journal of Technology Education 27(2): 37-56. DOI: 10.21061/jte.v27i2.a.3 (pdf)

Wells, J, Lammi, M, Grubbs, M, Gero, J, Paretti, M and Williams, C (2016) Characterizing design cognition of high school students: Initial analyses comparing those with and without pre-engineering experiences, Journal of Technology Education (to appear) (pdf )

Yu, R, Gu, N, Ostwald, M and Gero, JS (2015) Empirical support for problem-solution co-evolution in a parametric design environment, AIEDAM 25(1): 33-44. (pdf )

Yu, R and Gero, JS (2016) An empirical basis for the use of design patterns by architects in parametric design, International Journal of Architectural Computing14(3): 289-302. (pdf) DOI: 10.1177/1478077116663351

Papers that describe this research in more detail

Bilda, Z and Gero, JS (2006) Reasoning with internal and external representations: A case study with expert architects, in R Sun (ed), CogSci2006, Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. 1020-1026 . (pdf)

Bilda, Z and Gero, JS (2005) Does sketching off-load visuo-spatial working memory? in Gero, JS and Bonnardel, N (eds), Studying Designers'05, Key Centre of Design Computing and Cognition, University of Sydney, pp 145-159. (pdf)

Gero JS (2011) Fixation and commitment while designing and its measurement, Journal of Creative Behavior 45(2): 108-115. (pdf)

Gero, JS, Jiang, H and Vieira, S (2013) Exploring a multi-meeting engineering design project, A Chakrabarti and RV Prakash (eds), ICoRD’13, Springer India, pp. 73-84. (pdf)

Gero, JS, Kan, JWT and Jiang, H (2014) Distinguishing and measuring “Communication While Designing” and “Design Communication” in a design team, International Conference on Human Behavior in Design (to appear) (pdf)

Gero, JS, Kannengiesser, U and Williams, C (2015) Does designing have a common cognitive behavior independent of domain and task: A meta-analysis of design protocols, International Conference on Human Behavior in Design (to appear) (pdf )

Jiang, H, Gero, JS and Yen, CC (2012) Exploring designing styles using Problem-Solution indexes, DCC'12 (to appear) (pdf)

Kan, J and Gero, JS (2005) Entropy measurement of linkography in protocol studies of designing, in Gero, JS and Bonnardel, N (eds), Studying Designers'05, Key Centre of Design Computing and Cognition, University of Sydney, pp. 229-245. (pdf)

Kavakli, M and Gero, JS (2002) The structure of concurrent cognitive actions: A case study of novice and expert designers, Design Studies 23(1): 25-40. (pdf)

Lammi, M and Gero, JS (2011) Comparing design cognition of undergraduate engineering students and high school pre-engineering students, 41st ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education, ASEE/IEEE, pp. F4F:1-6. (pdf)

Purcell, T and Gero, JS(1996) Design and other types of fixation, Design Studies 17(4): 363-383 (pdf)

Suwa, M, Tversky, B, Gero, JS and Purcell, T (2001) Seeing into sketches: Regrouping parts encourages new interpretations, in JS Gero, B Tversky and T Purcell (eds), Visual and Spatial Reasoning in Design II, Key Centre of Design Computing and Cognition, University of Sydney, Sydney, pp. 207-219.(pdf)

For the rest you can scour my publications starting with those under In Progress.

People

The people who have or are working with me on this include:

Sarah Abdellahi

Lilian Almeida

Kurt Becker

Brooke Bellows

Zafer Bilda

Sergey Chernyak

Ben Colbron

Kinga Dobolyi

Matt Dworsky

Michael Grubbs

Hao Jiang

Jeff Kan

Udo Kannengiesser

Manolya Kavakli

Yesol Kim

Pinelopi Kyriazi

Matthew Lammi

Yoon Lee

Yuzhen Luo

Elizabeth Matka

Tom McNeill

Julie Milovanovic

Marie Paretti

Morteza Pourmohamadi

Terry Purcell

Tom Sakao

Somwrita Sarkar

Mick Smythwood

Ting Song

Masaki Suwa

Hsien-Hui (Michael) Tang

Barbara Tversky (through Masaki Suwa)

John Wells

Chris Williams

Peter Williams

Rongrong Yu

Ellina Yukhina

Research Area: Cognitive Studies of Designing
	Designing is one of the most significant of the purposeful cognitive acts of humans. Surprisingly little is known about it. This research area draws from cognitive science and applied psychology and extends techniques used in those disciplines to make them more useful in the study and elucidation of designing. The primary tool is the protocol study or protocol analysis. Here the designer is studied while carrying out designing tasks, generally in a laboratory setting although increasingly in situ. We have been examining the cognitive activities of designers using the Function-Behavior-Structure ontology that provides a framework for understanding what is happening in design terms. This is giving us insight into where designers spend their cognitive effort. We have extended existing protocol analysis tools through the development of new coding schemes and have developed new analysis tools based on entropy measurements of design activities. Funding comes from NSF. We examine fundamental cognitive behaviors while designing. Projects include: fixation effects on designing role of education on design behavior role of sketching in designing role of imagery in designing role of external representations in designing role of experience in designing team and collaborative behavior effect of the introduction of varying levels of technology on designing methods for acquiring knowledge from protocols Home


	Publications Papers that describe some of the research methods and some of the main fundings Bilda, Z, Gero, JS and Purcell, T (2006) To sketch or not to sketch? That is the question, Design Studies 27(5): 587-613 . (pdf) Gero, JS and Jiang, H (2016) Exploring the design cognition of concept design reviews using the FBS-based protocol analysis, in RS Adams and JA Siddiqui (eds), Analyzing Design Review Conversations, Purdue University Press. DOI: 10.5703/1288284315931(pdf) Gero, JS, Kan, JWT and Pourmohamadi, M (2011) Analysing design protocols: Development of methods and tools, in A Chakrabarti (ed), Research into Design, Research Publishing, pp. 3-10 (pdf) Gero, JS and McNeill, T (1998) An approach to the analysis of design protocols, Design Studies 19(1): 21-61. (pdf) Jiang, H, Gero, JS and Yen, CC (2014) Exploring designing styles using Problem-Solution indexes, in JS Gero (ed), Design Computing and Cognition'12, Springer, pp. 85-101. (pdf ) Kan, J and Gero, JS (2008) Acquiring information from linkography in protocol studies of designers, Design Studies 29(4): 315-337. (pdf) Kan, JWT and Gero JS (2009) Using the FBS ontology to capture semantic design information in design protocol studies, in J McDonnell and P Lloyd (eds), About: Designing. Analysing Design Meetings, CRC Press, pp. 213-229. (pdf) Kan, JWT and Gero, JS (2017) Characterizing innovative processes in design spaces through measuring the information entropy of empirical data from protocol studies, AIEDAM (doi: 10.1017/S0890060416000548). (pdf) Purcell, T. and Gero, J. S. (1998) Drawings and the design process: A review of protocol studies in design and other disciplines and related research in cognitive psychology, Design Studies 19(4): 389-430. (pdf) Song, T, Becker, K, Gero, J, Deberard, S, Lawanto, O and Reeve, E (2016) Problem decomposition and recomposition in engineering design: A comparison of design behavior between professional engineers, engineering seniors, and engineering freshmen, Journal of Technology Education 27(2): 37-56. DOI: 10.21061/jte.v27i2.a.3 (pdf) Wells, J, Lammi, M, Grubbs, M, Gero, J, Paretti, M and Williams, C (2016) Characterizing design cognition of high school students: Initial analyses comparing those with and without pre-engineering experiences, Journal of Technology Education (to appear) (pdf ) Yu, R, Gu, N, Ostwald, M and Gero, JS (2015) Empirical support for problem-solution co-evolution in a parametric design environment, AIEDAM 25(1): 33-44. (pdf ) Yu, R and Gero, JS (2016) An empirical basis for the use of design patterns by architects in parametric design, International Journal of Architectural Computing14(3): 289-302. (pdf) DOI: 10.1177/1478077116663351 Papers that describe this research in more detail Bilda, Z and Gero, JS (2006) Reasoning with internal and external representations: A case study with expert architects, in R Sun (ed), CogSci2006, Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. 1020-1026 . (pdf) Bilda, Z and Gero, JS (2005) Does sketching off-load visuo-spatial working memory? in Gero, JS and Bonnardel, N (eds), Studying Designers'05, Key Centre of Design Computing and Cognition, University of Sydney, pp 145-159. (pdf) Gero JS (2011) Fixation and commitment while designing and its measurement, Journal of Creative Behavior 45(2): 108-115. (pdf) Gero, JS, Jiang, H and Vieira, S (2013) Exploring a multi-meeting engineering design project, A Chakrabarti and RV Prakash (eds), ICoRD’13, Springer India, pp. 73-84. (pdf) Gero, JS, Kan, JWT and Jiang, H (2014) Distinguishing and measuring “Communication While Designing” and “Design Communication” in a design team, International Conference on Human Behavior in Design (to appear) (pdf) Gero, JS, Kannengiesser, U and Williams, C (2015) Does designing have a common cognitive behavior independent of domain and task: A meta-analysis of design protocols, International Conference on Human Behavior in Design (to appear) (pdf ) Jiang, H, Gero, JS and Yen, CC (2012) Exploring designing styles using Problem-Solution indexes, DCC'12 (to appear) (pdf) Kan, J and Gero, JS (2005) Entropy measurement of linkography in protocol studies of designing, in Gero, JS and Bonnardel, N (eds), Studying Designers'05, Key Centre of Design Computing and Cognition, University of Sydney, pp. 229-245. (pdf) Kavakli, M and Gero, JS (2002) The structure of concurrent cognitive actions: A case study of novice and expert designers, Design Studies 23(1): 25-40. (pdf) Lammi, M and Gero, JS (2011) Comparing design cognition of undergraduate engineering students and high school pre-engineering students, 41st ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education, ASEE/IEEE, pp. F4F:1-6. (pdf) Purcell, T and Gero, JS(1996) Design and other types of fixation, Design Studies 17(4): 363-383 (pdf) Suwa, M, Tversky, B, Gero, JS and Purcell, T (2001) Seeing into sketches: Regrouping parts encourages new interpretations, in JS Gero, B Tversky and T Purcell (eds), Visual and Spatial Reasoning in Design II, Key Centre of Design Computing and Cognition, University of Sydney, Sydney, pp. 207-219.(pdf) For the rest you can scour my publications starting with those under In Progress. People The people who have or are working with me on this include: Sarah Abdellahi Lilian Almeida Kurt Becker Brooke Bellows Zafer Bilda Sergey Chernyak Ben Colbron Kinga Dobolyi Matt Dworsky Michael Grubbs Hao Jiang Jeff Kan Udo Kannengiesser Manolya Kavakli Yesol Kim Pinelopi Kyriazi Matthew Lammi Yoon Lee Yuzhen Luo Elizabeth Matka Tom McNeill Julie Milovanovic Marie Paretti Morteza Pourmohamadi Terry Purcell Tom Sakao Somwrita Sarkar Mick Smythwood Ting Song Masaki Suwa Hsien-Hui (Michael) Tang Barbara Tversky (through Masaki Suwa) John Wells Chris Williams Peter Williams Rongrong Yu Ellina Yukhina Home

Research Area: Cognitive Studies of Designing

Publications