Serial Sketching: Visual Problem Solving in Designing

Architectural designing is seen as a process of small-step transformations of partial images of a still nonexisting entity. A design problem is solved when a satisfactory visual representation of a design concept is produced. To deal with pictorial properties of the design concept, the designer utilizes visual thinking, which is represented through sketching. In serial sketching the designer systematically transforms images of the entity that is being designed: each sketch provides feedback that informs the generation of subsequent representations. The process is seen as an exemplar of information processing in problem solving and is investigated through cases from on-line experiments as well as examples from the architectural literature.