Summary

‘Gut feeling’ is often understood to be an implicit part of creative designing yet its process is little understood. Designers typically like to think of themselves as intuitive and they are expected by employers to behave in intuitive ways when designing consumer goods. Working closely with designers and those linked to design teams in six companies, this project aims to make ‘gut feeling’ and its value explicit by eliciting the ‘hindsight narratives’ of selected critical intuitive decisions.

The results indicate that while rarely employed in isolation, ‘gut feeling’ is an integral aspect of design practice across a wide range of successful small companies. However, the extent to which such intuitive practice is articulated, and subsequently valued, is dependent on the perceived role and position of the business (i.e. whether it primarily identifies as ‘creative’ or ‘scientific’); and on the character and status of the individual designer (i.e. his or her levels of experience and self-confidence). Initial analysis provides a) new knowledge about designing, the design process and participatory research methods b) developments in the interdisciplinary aspects of design and entrepreneurial thinking and c) increased knowledge within the participating companies around intangible assets surrounding the design and development of new products.  In addition to assisting companies to most beneficially harness the use of intuition in new product development, it is hoped that this research will provide a defense of creativity within increasingly pressured, risky and restricted innovation environments.

What the study involves

This will include the recording the recollections of selected intuitive tracks or themes within early stage designing of consumer goods. After an initial scoping workshop in the University, a number of network events will held be over 6 months in each company and will involve analysis of the recorded discourses used by designers and design staff in their exchanges. This will establish the places of gut feeling in practical design decisions and produce original research material. Gut feeling 'hindsight stories' will be recorded from designers' and those closely associated with design and NPD. Within each company this will attempt to capture critical details of the start, evolution journey, lifespan and geography of selected critical intuitive decisions.

Wider Benefits and Importance

This research is important because it will provide new knowledge about designing, the design process and participatory research methods. It will also increase the capability of participating companies and their designers to achieve a balance between the use of intuition and risk assessment in the development of new products. Dissemination for academic communities will be through journal publication and an international seminar, which will also serve to develop a new international network around design, new product development and small firms. It is planned to bring forth new practical knowledge about design and design environments. This will influence the role of designers as team members where they will increase the transparency of what they might do without such transparency affecting its novel value. The direct relevance of the work is potentially seen in both designers' on-going work and in the collaborating companies increased understanding of intuition.