"Creativity in Design Engineering and the Role of Knowledge: Modelling the Expert" by Henri Christiaans and Kees Venselaar (2005)

This paper examines the relationship between knowledge acquisition and design creativity amongst novice design students. The authors conducted two studies, analysing student learner reports alongside design creativity ratings of their projects, to explore the role of domain-specific and domain-independent knowledge. They found that students who acquired more general process knowledge (knowledge of how to manage and monitor the design process) tended to produce more creative designs. This suggests that teaching novice designers how to effectively manage the design process is crucial for fostering creativity.