Coevolution simultaneously develops the formulation of and solution to a problem

Expert designers develop and refine both “the formulation of a problem and ideas for a solution in concert” in a process called “coevolution.”[1]

In expert design practice, research has shown that the design problem is not fixed before the search begins for a satisfactory solution concept. … Coevolution involves a constant iteration of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation passing back and forth between the two conceptual design “spaces”—the problem space and the solution space. … the designer is seeking to generate a matching problem-solution pair.[2]

The essential process generally follows this pattern:[3]

  1. A chunk, or seed, of coherent information arises from the problem situation.
  2. It sparks the crystallization of a core solution idea (the “primary generator”).
  3. This core solution idea in turn changes the designer’s view of the problem situation.
  4. Redefine the problem in light of the possible solution.
  5. They then check whether the new problem definition still suits the earlier solution idea.

The creative process of design is generally not so much, as the popular perception depicts, a flash of sudden inspiration as an iterative process of exploration. The intent of the designer, then, is to achieve a creative event by bridging the problem space and the solution space by the identification of a key concept. Once problem and solution “fit together nicely, the result takes on an unassailable quality: a structure emerges that is simple and coherent and that integrates all the demands that had occupied the initial, messy problem arena.”[4]

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See also:

  1. Frame Innovation – Dorst (2015), ch. 3, § “Five lessons from design.” ↩︎

  2. Ibid. ↩︎

  3. Ibid. The wording in this list is essentially Dorst’s. ↩︎

  4. Ibid. ↩︎