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

认知偏差会对人类行为中的决策和行动的成功产生显著的负面影响，并以许多不同的形式和应用领域被记录下来。本学院早期职业发展计划（Career）奖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，并确定和测试减轻这种偏差的方法。错误管理使决策偏向于成本较低的错误。在设计实践中，错误管理可能涉及到个人生计的自我保护或资源的保护。基于认知的工程设计研究是这样进行的：如果我们能够理解设计师的思考和工作方式，我们将能够确定导致最佳设计输出的实践、方法、工具、环境和刺激。错误管理偏见渗透在所有人类决策中，更清晰地了解其对设计的影响可以从根本上改善解决设计问题的方式。更深入、更全面地了解错误管理偏差在设计中的作用，也将提高设计教育技术和学习成果。该职业奖的教育目标是促进STEM领域的多样性，特别注重通过K-12女孩、年轻女性和少数族裔的项目来加强管道。与乔治亚州亚特兰大的木偶戏艺术中心合作，将执行一个由三部分组成的项目：1)通过以木偶戏为基础、以stem为重点的远程学习课程，吸引第一标题学校的不同国家儿童观众；2)为亚特兰大地区的女孩和少数民族儿童提供当地互动的、基于木偶的STEM教育体验；3)通过合作STEM木偶展设计课程，为佐治亚理工学院工程本科学生提供服务学习体验，从事女孩和少数民族儿童的指导工作。通过这些教育活动，本地和全国代表性不足的K-12学生将对从事STEM学习和职业产生更大的兴趣和自我效能。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。本研究的重点是进一步发展设计理论和方法论领域的新基础知识，以更深入地了解错误管理偏见在设计实践的执行和学习方式中所起的作用。错误管理偏差包括损失厌恶偏差、现状偏差、情境依赖偏好等等。具体目标是：1)更深入地了解错误管理偏差在设计过程中所扮演的角色；2)找出减轻设计过程中错误管理偏差的方法；3)测试和验证在设计过程中减轻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。在研究设计中的错误管理偏差时，重要的是不仅要认识到这些偏差何时，何地以及如何表现出来，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。本研究方法以现场、人种学和实验室为基础，对新手和专家设计师的设计实践进行研究，以揭示和研究设计中最普遍的错误管理偏差形式，以及详细的缓解技术。通过更广泛、更深入地研究设计中的错误管理偏差，研究人员和从业者将能够理解和改进设计实践，以实现更客观、理性的行为和决策，最终获得更好的设计创新成果。这项研究将有助于在设计理论和方法研究中开辟一个广阔的、相对未被探索的探究领域。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值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.