Ambiguous vs. Concrete: Identifying the Effect of Design References with Various Level of Details on Designer's Creativity in the Early Design Phase

Abstract

During the early design phase, spatial designers search for design references to develop design ideas. In this process, the level of detail (LoD) of design references can significantly influence the quality of design outcomes. However, previous studies have only suggested guidelines indicating that abstract references are useful in the early design phase without the degree of LoD. In response, this study aims to identify the impact of LoD of design references on design outcomes during the design concept development. To this end, we proposed three different reference types (abstract, hybrid, and concrete), and conducted experiments to assess the creativity and efficiency of the design outcome per LoD type. We also developed the FPRT (Floor Plan Retrieving Tool) system along with 7,842 existing residential floor plans for the experiments. The results of the study showed that there is a significant difference in design outcomes depending on the LoD types.