CAREER: Characterizing Error Management Cognitive Bias in Design - A Path to Better Design

认知偏差可以对人类行为中的决策和行动的成功产生显著的负面影响，已经在许多不同的形式和应用领域中得到了证明。这项教师早期职业发展计划(Career)奖项的研究目标是更深入地了解错误管理认知偏差在设计过程中所起的作用，并确定和测试缓解这种偏差的方法。错误管理使决策偏向于成本较低的错误。在设计实践中，错误管理可能与自我保护生计或节约资源等问题有关。基于认知的工程设计研究的观点是，如果我们能够理解设计师的思维和工作方式，我们将能够确定导致最佳设计输出的实践、方法、工具、环境和激励。错误管理偏差在所有人类决策中都是普遍存在的，更清楚地了解它对设计的影响可以从根本上改进解决设计问题的方式。对错误管理偏差在设计中的作用的更深入、更完整的理解也将提高设计教育技术和学习结果。这一职业奖的教育目标是帮助增加STEM领域的多样性，特别注重通过为K-12女孩、年轻妇女和少数族裔制定方案来加强渠道。与佐治亚州亚特兰大木偶艺术中心合作，将执行一个由三部分组成的项目：1)通过一个以木偶为基础的、以STEM为重点的远程学习课程，吸引第一标题学校不同的全国儿童受众；2)提供一个以亚特兰大地区女孩和少数族裔儿童为对象的当地互动、基于木偶的STEM教育体验；以及3)通过一个合作的STEM木偶展览设计课程，为佐治亚理工学院工程学本科生提供一种服务性学习体验，使他们能够参与女孩和少数族裔儿童的辅导。通过这些教育活动，当地和全国代表性不足的K-12学生将获得更多的兴趣和自我效能，以追求STEM学习和职业生涯。最终，通过增加STEM领域的多样性，更多成功的团队和创新成果将成为可能。本研究的重点是在设计理论和方法论领域进一步发展新的基础知识，以更深入地理解错误管理偏差在执行和学习设计实践中所起的作用。错误管理偏差可能包括损失厌恶偏差、现状偏差、上下文相关偏好等等。具体目标是：1)深入了解错误管理偏差在设计过程中的作用；2)确定在设计过程中缓解错误管理偏差的方法；以及3)测试和验证在设计过程中缓解错误管理偏差的方法。在设计实践中，当涉及到决策时，错误管理偏差可能是有益的，也可能是危险的。在探讨设计中错误管理偏差的研究时，重要的是不仅要认识到这些偏差何时、何地和如何显现，而且还要认识到偏差对设计结果的潜在影响--这可能不一定是负面的。这种研究方法的中心是对新手和专家设计师的设计实践进行现场、人种学和实验室研究，以发现和研究设计中最普遍的错误管理偏差形式，以及缓解这些偏差的技术。通过更广泛和更深入地研究设计中的错误管理偏差，研究人员和实践者将能够理解和改进设计实践，以便采取更客观、合理的行动和决策，并最终获得更好的设计创新结果。这项研究将有助于在设计理论和方法研究中开辟一个相对未被探索的广泛领域。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Cognitive bias can have significantly negative impacts on the success of decision-making and actions in human behavior, having been documented in many different forms and areas of application. The research objective of this Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award is to gain a deeper understanding of the role that error management cognitive bias plays in design process, and to identify and test means to mitigate that bias. Error management biases decision-making toward errors that are less costly. In design practice, error management may relate to concerns like self-preservation of one's livelihood or conservation of resources. Cognitive-based engineering design studies are performed with the perspective that if we can understand the way that designers think and work, we will be able to determine the practices, methods, tools, environments, and stimulation that lead to the best design output. Error management bias is a permeating presence in all human decision-making, and a clearer picture of its effects on design could fundamentally improve the way design problems are solved. A deeper, more complete understanding of the role of error management bias in design will also enhance design education techniques and learning outcomes. The educational objective of this CAREER award is to contribute to increasing the diversity of STEM fields, with particular focus on strengthening the pipeline through programming for K-12 girls and young women and racial minorities. In partnership with the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, GA, a three-part project will be executed: 1) engage a diverse national audience of children in Title I schools through a puppet-based, STEM-focused Distance Learning curriculum; 2) provide a local interactive, puppet-based, STEM education experience geared toward girls and minority children in the Atlanta area; and 3) provide a service learning experience for Georgia Tech engineering undergraduate students to engage in mentorship of girls and minority children through a cooperative STEM puppet exhibit design course. Through the these educational activities, underrepresented K-12 students, locally and nationally, will gain more interest in, and self-efficacy for, pursuing STEM studies and careers. Ultimately, by increasing diversity in STEM fields, more successful teams and innovation outcomes will be possible.This research is focused on furthering the development of new fundamental knowledge in the areas of design theory and methodology to gain a deeper understanding of the role that error management bias plays in the way design practice is performed and learned. Error management biases can include loss aversion bias, status quo bias, context-dependent preferences and many more. The specific goals are: 1) to gain a deeper understanding of the role that error management bias plays in design process; 2) to identify means to mitigate error management bias in the design process; and 3) to test and validate the means to mitigate error management bias in the design process. In design practice, error management bias could be beneficial, or dangerous, when it comes to decision-making. When approaching the study of error management biases in design, it will be important not only to recognize when, where and how these biases manifest, but also the potential impact of the biases on the design outcomes--which may not necessarily be negative. This research approach is centered on in-situ, ethnographic, and laboratory based studies of design practice in novices and expert designers to uncover and study the most prevalent forms of error management biases in design, as well as techniques for their mitigation, in detail. By studying error management biases in design more broadly and deeply, researchers and practitioners will be able to understand and improve design practice for more objective, rational actions and decision-making and, ultimately, better design innovation outcomes. This research will help to open up a broad, relatively unexplored area of inquiry in design theory and methods research.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.