Thesis
Is design delightful? : exploring design students' emotional experiences during the design journey
- Creator
- Rights statement
- Awarding institution
- University of Strathclyde
- Date of award
- 2025
- Thesis identifier
- T17556
- Person Identifier (Local)
- 202259496
- Qualification Level
- Qualification Name
- Department, School or Faculty
- Abstract
- Design is inherently emotional journey, requiring designers to navigate various challenges of decision-making and problem-solving while engaging with uncertainty and iteration. Although research in design has long examined the emotional experiences of end-users, there remains limited focus on the emotions of designers themselves, particularly within the context of design education, where students first develop their design knowledge and identity. This research addresses this gap by exploring the emotional experiences of design students during their design process, investigating how emotions emerge, manifest, and influence their engagement and achievements during the design journey. Building on psychological theories of emotion and design process frameworks, this research situates emotions as dynamic forces that not only shape students’ behaviours and decisions but also affect their motivation, resilience, and learning outcomes. The central research question Is Design Delightful? guides the investigation, supported by three sub-questions: what emotions design students experience, how these emotions influence their design process, and how emotions can be effectively incorporated into design education. To address these questions, the research adopts a mixed-methods approach that combines qualitative and quantitative data collection. Two new cultural probe research tools, the EmotionProbe and the EmotionTracker, were developed to capture students’ emotions across short- and long-term design projects, supported by questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, a focus group, and a workshop. Together, these methods provided a comprehensive picture of students’ emotional journey across different design process stages. The findings reveal that students experience a broad spectrum of emotions that include neutral states such as feeling 'fine' within the emotional transitions. The research uncovers new, previously underexplored emotional phenomena, including Emotionlessness State and the Design Neutral Schema. In addition, the research highlights the imbalance between positive and negative emotions and the process stage distribution during design projects. Crucially, the study identifies the absence of anger as a reported emotion, despite its potential as a constructive and motivating force, and argues for its inclusion within design pedagogy through safe, structured exploration. This research contributes new knowledge to the design field in three significant ways: first, it introduces innovative methodological tools for documenting and analysing emotional experiences in design, second, it advances understanding of the patterns and impacts of emotions on students’ design processes, and third it calls for rethinking design education by integrating emotional awareness as a central component of studio learning. By reframing emotions both positive and negative as valuable resources rather than obstacles, this study enriches design education, shaping how deign students engage with their design work flow.
- Advisor / supervisor
- Rodgers, Paul, 1965-
- Brisco, Ross
- Resource Type
- DOI
Relations
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