This study explored ways to construct design briefs to identify which formats best foster creativity among undergraduates in their projects. The early-stage ideas of 158 novice designers were assessed in an empirical study using a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods. Collaborative sketching and 6-3-5 method were combined to use drawings as the main form of communication during the ideation task. This was followed by a post-experimental questionnaire aimed at learning about the participants’ views on the ideation task. Our results suggest that briefs with specific numerical requirements helped students score well in appropriateness, while those including physical stimuli led to higher Usability scores but lower Novelty scores. Outcomes from the survey showed that although the presence of a visual prompt led students to believe that they were enhancing the Novelty of their designs, their final scores reflected the opposite. Because of that, educators should consider addressing students' misconceptions about how examples affect the creativity of their design solutions.

这项研究探索了构造设计摘要的方法，以识别哪种格式最能促进大学生在其项目中的创造力。158名新手设计师的早期构想在实证研究中使用了定量和定性方法的组合进行了评估。在构思任务期间，将协作草图和6-3-5方法相结合，以图纸作为主要的交流形式。随后是一项实验后调查问卷，旨在了解参与者对构想任务的看法。我们的研究结果表明，具有特定数字要求的摘要有助于学生在适当性上获得良好的评分，而那些包含身体刺激的摘要则可以使可用性得分更高，但新颖性得分更低。调查的结果表明，尽管视觉提示的出现使学生们相信他们正在提高其设计的新颖性，但他们的最终分数却恰恰相反。因此，教育工作者应考虑解决学生对示例如何影响其设计解决方案创意的误解。