Back to results

Virginia Tech

The Effectiveness of Interior Design Students' Study Drawings in the Design Process

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

Visualization is an important part of the design process. The sketches that are created during the design process are the visible evidence of the visualization that occurs in the brain. The process of designing involves a conversation that occurs between the student and the sketches created during problem finding and problem solving in the design process. This conversation allows the student to progress through the design process manipulating both the drawn image on paper and the visualization that occurs in their mind until a fitting solution to the problem is found. This study sought a better understanding of this communication style and it's effect on designed final products. Two methods of analysis were utilized in this research. Quantitative analysis was used to measure the correlation between quality of sketching process and the quality of the final designed product. Then multiple case studies were examined to describe in detail the design process styles of three students. First the sketches that were created during the designing of a student project were counted and then evaluated for sketch creativity and sketch efficacy. The final design products were evaluated for project creativeness and project function. Significant positive statistical correlations between the variables were observed. In summary, the quality of sketches and visual thinking during the design process had a measurable positive effect on the final designed solution.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Science
Level thesis:degree_level
masters
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Housing, Interior Design, and Resource Management
Department dc:contributor.department
Housing, Interior Design, and Resource Management
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
2002

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Prillaman, Susan Carol
Chairs dc:contributor.committeechair
  • Whitney, Bradley A.
  • McLain-Kark, Joan H.
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Burch-Brown, Carol S.
  • Dugas, David M.

Subjects

dc:subject × 11

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
etd-05132002-143056
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/32687

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Prillaman, Susan Carol. The Effectiveness of Interior Design Students' Study Drawings in the Design Process. masters thesis, Virginia Tech, 2002. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/32687