A fix for fixation? Rerepresenting and abstracting as creative processes in the design of information systems

Fixation prevents the associations that are bridges to new designs. The inability to see alternative solutions, or how known solutions can map onto current problems, is a particularly acute problem in the design of software-intensive systems. Here, we study two related ways of liberating fixated thinking: abstracting and re-representing. We find that both techniques can help designers generate original ideas. However, it is also true that both techniques can lead to flawed ideas, because originality and fitness are negatively correlated in participants’ solutions. We discuss ways our results might be used to generate reflective design aid that first help generate original ideas and later cull these ideas.