It is a given that the world changes. A changing world means that the problems society faces change too. Solving these problems has become more complex, and will so even more in the future. Increasingly, designers are the ones expected to be the ones to solve them. To that end, new design methods need to be devised to support designers in approaching these new challenges. This project focuses on improving one aspect of design behavior: reducing designers’ reliance on exhaustive search strategies.

Exhaustive search strategies are characterized by designers trying to exhaust an imaginary source of ideas and methods as a way to attain certainty in the design process. These are resource intensive and low in effectiveness. As problem complexity and consequently uncertainty in the design process rise, resources become more scarce and the risk these strategies bring increases.

A literature study was executed to investigate the origin of these strategies, as well as search for opportunities for improvement. The aforementioned problematic situation is a trait of non-expert designers. Expert designers employ completely different strategies. In order to deepen the understanding of the problem and create a better understanding of the expert approach, two sets of structured interviews were performed. One set with graduating industrial design students and one set with expert industrial designers. It was confirmed that the expert approach is characterized by a high tolerance for complexity and uncertainty.

As a way to instill this quality in non-expert designers, the design of the method thus focuses on supporting designers in embracing complexity and uncertainty. From findings in the literature study and the interviews, a promising direction was identified in the use of narratives and reflection. By means of rapid prototyping tests of the method with graduating students, a methodological structure for a narrative-based reflection method was designed: Design Interlude. A Design Interlude is a break in the design process to reflect on the complexity of the project and look ahead to the uncertainties that are to come. Additionally, a template for performing the method was designed.

The results of several validation tests suggest that this method is effective at supporting designers in embracing uncertainty and complexity. More research is needed to measure if using the method consequently affects reliance on exhaustive search strategies. Additional effects of using the method that were observed are: increased likelihood of new insights, clearer project direction and easier communication of problem complexity.

From here, a larger study of the effectiveness of this method should be conducted. As well as an investigation into the possibility of implementing it into the industrial design curriculum.