Reasoning is a fundamental process in design activity, and it provides a way to understand design behaviour. Theories and models of design propose reasoning that follows abductive-deductive patterns. At the micro-level, these patterns are untested. This study analyses verbal reasoning patterns at the micro-level for group idea generation using protocol analyses of concurrent verbalisations from five design teams with industry participants. The results show that reasoning in design activity across 218 ideas follows general patterns of abductive-deductive reasoning. At the individual idea level, the reasoning patterns are disorderly and enter into micro-patterns of inference. The study concludes that understanding reasoning at early-stage idea generation processes is indicative of the mental models and abductive-deductive reasoning that are prevalent in design activity.

推理是设计活动中的基本过程，它提供了一种了解设计行为的方式。设计理论和模型提出了遵循归纳-演绎模式的推理。在微观层面上，这些模式未经测试。这项研究使用来自五个设计团队和行业参与者的并发动词的协议分析，从微观层面分析了群体创意产生的微观语言推理模式。结果表明，在218个构想中的设计活动中的推理遵循归纳演绎推理的一般模式。在个人思想层面上，推理模式是无序的，并进入了微观的推理模式。