Abstract

Design representation is one of the key domains of design practice. Understanding perceptual dominance helps to evaluate systematically the interplay between intentions and occurrences of design representation. The objective of this research is to learn perceptual dominance from a designer’s perspective and to use it in design representational practice for the viewer’s benefit. The research considers a correlation between perception and prediction; therefore, it experiments with perceptual dominance based on the context of the viewer’s predictability. Without prior coaching, 282 participants were asked to add only one item to arbitrary drawings composed of a few elementary planes accompanied by a spontaneous line. The participants’ reactions were analyzed to discover any patterns displayed by that group of viewers. The research identifies a pattern in which viewers engage with “thematic thinking” across uncertainties. Moreover, the viewer’s decision corresponds to generalization or semantic sense as simplicity. Finally, for design representation purposes, it is logical and evident that mere arrangements or associations as syntactic grammar can be transformed into explicit representations through the incorporation of semantic sense into the syntax, such as contextualization or a thematic approach. Essentially, such an idea corresponds to the methodological impulse to create simplicity, with which people more naturally engage. Such discussions are expected to be accessible for and applicable to creative design processes across a wide spectrum.