An Empirical Investigation into the Influence of Media Types on Design Cognition and Methodologies

This paper reports on the findings of an empirical investigation into the impact of different media on design methodology. The statistical sample included 49 fourth year architecture students, divided into three groups: the drawing group, the physical model group and the computer group. They were given a problem of designing a façade in an urban context in Glasgow over a two week period. The design process of each group was monitored over that period through observations, recordings and attitude measurement via a questionnaire survey. The results were analysed using the Statistical Programme for Social Sciences (SPSS). The dendrograms from cluster analysis revealed that there were well established perceptual dimensions, or clusters, for the façadeis design variables within the three groups because of using different media. The impact of media on design creativity, both as a process and a product, was investigated. All three media types yielded a positive correlation between “media made design decisions more creativei and “media made design scheme more creativei- with a correlation coefficient of 0.708 which was significant at the 0.01 level,