The initial stage of the design process, when a designer first starts to generate ideas, is not well understood. Often referred to as conceptual design, during this stage the designer generates a multiplicity of designs and variations on designs, most of which are never verbalized or formalized. This phase of design will be examined by studying the knowledge processes and heuristics that form its components. The method will be to create a test design problem with a limited domain that can be solved by both experienced and novice designers. By comparing and analyzing the differences between the two groups using techniques from cognitive science, applied psychology, and knowledge engineering, a formalization of the process will be developed.
