From inhibition to ideation: a pedagogic management tool for alleviating sketch inhibition in design education

This study addresses sketch inhibition in design education by developing a pedagogic management tool informed by creative cognition theory. Sketch inhibition can limit students’ use of sketching to externalize ideas and explore design concepts. The study integrates a generic sketch taxonomy with the Uncertainty-Driven Action (UDA) model to provide a framework for reflecting on sketching activities and related barriers. The pedagogic management tool for sketch inhibition (PMSIT) targets limited understanding of sketching, perfectionism, and fear of evaluation through structured reflection. A pre–post evaluation involved 52 undergraduate design students: 42 used the simplified tool (PMSIT_S), and 10 completed the tasks without it. The intervention group reported improved understanding of sketching and confidence in visual thinking and communication, together with lower perfectionism and evaluation anxiety. The control group also showed changes in some outcomes. These findings provide preliminary evidence concerning self-reported sketch inhibition; they do not establish an intervention-specific effect or gains in measured creative performance. The study contributes a practical framework for supporting reflection during design sketching. Further evaluation across tasks, disciplines, and longer follow-up periods is needed.