Photo by Pawel Czerwinski on Unsplash

NOVEMBER 11 TH 2021

LINKOGRAPHY IN DESIGN RESEARCH AN INTRODUCTION

DR. MIA A. TEDJOSAPUTRO
DR. M I A A. TEDJOSAPUTRO
Designer/ architect

Design researcher

Lecturer in Ningbo University

Lecturer in Uni of Nottingham, Ningbo China

Designpreneur

B.Arch: Petra Christian University

M.Arch: University of Nottingham, UK
PhD: University of Nottingham, UK
PGCHE (University level teaching qualification): Falmouth University, UK

LEARN MORE 2
www.miatedjosaputro.com
 IND O NESIA
CHINA

Est 2001. The design and

architecture arm of the company
is still in its infancy stage (2020), a
very small team in two countries.
 4

Research
Interests
01 02 03
Study of design Mixed Reality in Bamboo architecture
behaviour Architecture
(using Hololens 2)

04 05 06
Digital Design Cognition Design Pedagogy Embodied creativity
02
Mixed Reality in
Architecture

03
Bamboo architecture
 6

Teaching
Agenda

01 02 03
Digital Architecture Tectonics Design studio
(Y4- Ningbo University) (Y3- Ningbo University) (Y3 and Y4- Ningbo University)

04
CELE Content- Architecture
(Preliminary Year- University of Nottingham Ningbo China)
 7

Research-led
design practice

01 02
Users Design brief

03 04
Design stages Post occupancy

Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash

 8

KALA
NINGBO,
CHINA
OUTLINE: AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
STUDY OF DESIGN BEHAVIOUR
LINKOGRAPHY:
BACKGROUND
MINI EXERCISES
DISCUSSIONS
LINKOGRAPHY USE IN MY PHD STUDY
SUMMARY
QUESTIONS
AIMS

 Highlighting the use of Linkography as a method of

analysis.
 Discussing the benefits and drawbacks of Linkography.
 Understanding how Linkography can be used in design
research.
 Sharing how I used Linkography in my previous research.
OBJECTIVES

 Better understanding of Linkography as a method of

analysis.
 Becoming aware of advantages and disadvantages of the
method in comparison with other methods.
 Helping to materialise how Linkography can possibly be
used in your current or future projects.
BEAR IN MIND..

 Linkography is not the only method of analysis available in

design research.
 By far it is one of the most time intensive method especially in a
session longer than an hour.
 However, it can be combined with other methods.
 This session is an interactive one. I am keen to hear about how
you use linkography in your research.
STUDY OF DESIGN BEHAVIOUR INTRODUCTION
 1960. Identified as an agenda.

DESIGN THINKING [1] Herbert Simon. “A science of design” in 1969[2]

1970. Evolved from systematic application
of design methods to recognition of
satisfying solutions.
1980. Design can be seen as discipline
based on the uniqueness of it and ways
of understanding it.
[1] Cross, N. (2007). Forty years of design research. Design 1996-2010. Bibliometric analysis
Studies, 28, 1-4.
[2] Simon, H. A. (1992). Sciences of the Artificial, Cambridge, MA,
MIT Press.
Chai and Xiao (2012) [3]:
[3] Chai, K.-H. & Xiao, X. (2012). Understanding design research: A
bibliometric analysis of Design Studies (1996–2010). Design
Design process and cognition
Studies, 33, 24-43.
[4] Cross, N. (2011). Design thinking : understanding how
Design thinking gained recognition in
designers think and work / Nigel Cross, Berg.
[5] Dorst, K. (2011). The core of ‘design thinking’ and its
other fields.
application. Design Studies, 32, 521-532.
2011. The core of design thinking[4,5]
ISSUE #48 (2017) -#65 (2019)

SPECIAL ISSUE ON:

 Parametric design thinking
 Designing in the wild
 Participatory design

COMMON ISSUES ON:

 Design ideation
 Various medium for ideation
 Methods to study designing
 Collaborative design behaviour
 Pedagogy
 Relation with other stakeholders
STATE-OF-ART
ISSUE #66 (2020)- #77 (2021)
IN LAST 2 YEARS

ISSUES ON:
 Design ideation
 Collaborative design behaviour
 Sketching behaviour
 Virtual world
 Directions for design research
 Gamification
 Prototyping
 Neuro science approach
WHAT RESEARCHERS ARE INTERESTED TO FIND OUT

 How do designers engage in design activities?

 How does design come about?
 The effect on relations with other stakeholders.
 What are the available (or new) methods to study design
behaviour?
WHY?

 Understanding design behaviour leads to better support.

 Characterising design decisions foster optimisation.
 Pedagogical purpose.
COMMON METHODS OF OBTAINING DATA
Various ways of investigating designers have been prescribed (Cross, 1999):
1. Interview with designers
2. Observations and case studies
3. Protocol studies
4. Reflection and theorising
5. Simulation trials
---
6. Validation from other fields, such as neuroscience (brain scanning, for
instance)
[7] Cross, N. (1999). Natural intelligence in design. Design Studies, 20, 25-39.
PROTOCOL ANALYSIS: WHAT AND WHY
 Based on Ericsson and Simon (1980) and (1993)
 The basic assumption of protocol analysis: it is possible to instruct participants
to verbalise their thoughts while engaging in a task without altering the sequence
or content of thoughts.
 A few different ways to verbalise thoughts: concurrent (think-aloud),
retrospective, walk-through and prompted verbal reports. Developed by Van
Someren et al. (1994), think-aloud method has been a prominent design research
tool.
 Benefits? It gives information about an architect's reasoning strategy which
otherwise could not be obtained from their final design proposal. It allows design
researchers to understand the strategies and knowledge used by the architect.
[8] Ericsson, K. A. & Simon, H. A. (1980). Verbal reports as data. Psychological review, 87, 215.
[9] Ericsson, K. A. & Simon, H. A. (1993). Protocol Analysis: Verbal Reports as Data Revised Edition, Cambridge, Mass, MIT Press
[10] Van Someren, M. W., Barnard, Y. F. & Sandberg, J. A. (1994). The think aloud method: A practical guide to modelling cognitive processes, Academic Press London.
PROTOCOL ANALYSIS: BENEFITS
Verbal reports are considered as an effective representation of thoughts (Lloyd et al.,
1995)

Ability to identify aspects of creativity in design and how design problems are
constructed to concept of originality (Dorst and Cross, 2001)

Designers can be involved with concurrent protocols without altering their cognitive
processes.(Gero and Tang, 2001)

Appear to work reasonably well when studying how subjects solve well-defined
problems, the way the problem is presented to subjects leaves little freedom in
representing the space of possible moves and solutions. (Craig, 2001)
PROTOCOL ANALYSIS: BENEFITS
Two main uses: 1) can be source of hypotheses about cognitive process, and so about
predictions about non-verbal behaviour 2) if someone says something, they have this
knowledge somewhere in their heads. (Wilson and Corlett, 2005)

Verbal protocols are more suited to obtaining some types of information about
processes than others. Strategy being used may be inferred, and also the working
memory contents. (Wilson and Corlett, 2005)

Craig, D. L. (2001). Chapter 2 - Stalking Homo Faber: A Comparison of Research Strategies for Studying Design Behavior. In: Eastman, C. M.,
McCracken, W. M. & Newstetter, W. C. (eds.) Design Knowing and Learning: Cognition in Design Education. Oxford: Elsevier Science.
Dorst, K. & Cross, N. (2001). Creativity in the design process: co-evolution of problem–solution. Design Studies, 22, 425-437.
Gero, J. S. & Tang, H.-H. (2001). The differences between retrospective and concurrent protocols in revealing the process-oriented aspects of the
design process. Design Studies, 22, 283-295.
Lloyd, P., Lawson, B. & Scott, P. (1995). Can concurrent verbalization reveal design cognition? Design Studies, 16, 237-259.
Wilson, J. R. & Corlett, E. N. (2005). Evaluation of human work / edited by John R. Wilson and Nigel Corlett, Taylor & Francis.
SO FAR..

We have established why do we study design

behaviour and various ways to conduct research in
this area.

Protocol analysis as one way to study the

behavior.
LINKOGRAPHY BACKGROUND
LINKOGRAPHY: ABOUT

Linkography is a system of notation

and analysis of design processes
that focuses on links among design
moves.

[11] Goldschmidt, G., 2014. Linkography: unfolding the design process. Mit Press.
GOLDSCHMIDT’S POINT OF DEPARTURE
“When I first discovered protocol analysis I tried to apply it as prescribed to protocols we
have generated. I failed to find coding schemes of categories that could reveal
anything of value or interest and thought that there must be another way to use protocols
of on-line design session recordings to derive information that would lead to new
insights regarding the design process.

This prompted the notion that what we should be looking at is links among units of
verbalization, into which protocols are parsed.”

[12] Goldschmidt, G. & Tatsa, D. (2005). How good are good ideas? Correlates
of design creativity. Design Studies, 26, 593-611.
LINKOGRAPHY: THE BASICS
DESIGN MOVES
A step, an act, an
operation which
transform the state
from the previous
state.
LINKS
Links are decided by using common sense under the condition of
good acquaintance with the discipline. Two moves are considered
linked if their contents are related.
RATIONALE BEHIND LINKOGRAPHY

The main goal of designing is to achieve solidification of major ideas or

combinations of ideas; in other words, synthesising.

These acts of integration of ideas are the basic tenet of linkography.

EXAMPLE 1
TIMESPAN CONTENT
50 9:55.0 - 10:00.4 How about another part? Let's say one meters.
51 9:59.8 - 10:12.1 One meters is ok.. But this probably below, quite low.
52 10:11.8 - 10:20.5 Take part of spaces, that much.

53 10:19.4 - 10:28.1 That much is.. (long pause).

54 10:27.6 - 10:40.3 Let's say keep it on one meters. Three meter by three meter.
Then keep it one meter. Oh, this part. Yep.
55 10:40.0 - 10:46.9 Ok.. Then it's one meter, one meter. Yes it's makes sense.
 KEYWORDS:

ONE METER- 50

ONE METER- 51

‘THIS SPACE’-52

ONE METER- 54
THREE BY THREE METER
‘THIS SPACE’

ONE METER- 55

[13] Tedjosaputro, M. A., Shih, Y.-T., Niblock, C. & Pradel, P. (2017). Differences in Sketches
and Mental Imagery in Ideation Stage of Novice Designers. In: Chakrabarti, A. &
Chakrabarti, D. (eds.) Research into Design for Communities, Volume 1: Proceedings of
ICoRD 2017. Singapore: Springer Singapore.
HOW LINKOGRAPHY HAS BEEN USED
Linkography’s developments can be found in Hatcher et al. (2018)
EXAMPLE 2 (IN NVIVO)
EXAMPLE 2

+
EXAMPLE 2
EXAMPLE 2
DISCUSS
How do your linkographs differ with
your colleague’s?
What can you infer from the whole
system of linkograph?
From your experience, what are benefits
of linkography?
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNT?

What can we infer from the links?

What happen if we have an hour worth of this similar links?
Data collection is important.. Capture as much as you can. Redundancy.
DATA COLLECTION
LINKOGRAPHY IMPORTANT NOTIONS
BACKLINKS AND FORELINKS BACKLINKS FORELINKS

DIRECTION IS DIRECTION IS
BACKWARD FORWARD

CONVERGENT DIVERGENT THINKING

THINKING

BRING TOGETHER VARIOUS ASPECTS

INFORMATION AND WHICH LEAD TO
FOCUS ON SOLVING NOVEL IDEAS AND
PROBLEMS SOLUTIONS
EVALUATION PROCESS IDEATION PROCESS

FOCUS ON: FOCUS ON:

APPROPRIATENESS ORIGINALITY
LINK INDEX
A link index is "the ratio between the
number of links and number of moves
that generate them in a linkograph"
(Goldschmidt, 2014). It provides an fast
indication regarding the amount of
linking activity in a design session,
which gives rise to how designers achieve
a synthesis.
CRITICAL MOVES
Richly linked moves are called critical moves (CM), the most
important moves and are defined by a high number of links to
other ideas. They also indicate quality of design processes and
assist understanding of the dynamics of a team.

How many links to be classified as critical moves depends on the

grain of analysis and goal of study.
LINK PATTERNS
Chunk: graphically distinct a
discernible triangle.
Web: formed when a large
number of links are generated
among a small number of
moves.
Sawtooth rack: zigzag
pattern, linear thinking with one
leading to another.
INTERPRETING RESULTS

Synthesis -- cycles of ideation and elevation

Good design-- well integrated solutions through act of synthesis
Links -- achievements of synthesis
Link patterns (3) -- cycles of thoughts and intensity
Balance of <CMs and CMs> -- Ideas that are brought up are pursued
and inspected.

There is not a fix threshold in Linkography.

There is not a single method of analysis that
fits perfectly into our research.
Try in small scale and see how it contributes
to finding the answers.
SCRIPT #1
LINKO SKETCH
SCRIPT #1
LINKO SKETCH

Partial linkograph

Forty-five minutes
design session
LINKOGRAPHER

Pourmohamadi Mahounaki, M. & Gero, J. (2011).

LINKOgrapher: An analysis tool to study design
protocols based on FBS coding scheme. 18th
International Conference on Engineering Design:
Impacting Society through Engineering Design,
2011. Technical University of Denmark. The Design
Society, 294-303.
LINKOGRAPHY IN MY PREVIOUS STUDIES
 COMPARISON:
RQ1 S K E TC H I N G A N D
M E N TA L I M A G E R Y
6 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

INTERPLAY:
RQ2 INTERNAL AND
EXTERNAL
PROCESSES
2 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

COMPARISON:
RQ3
ARCHITECTURE
AND PRODUCT
DESIGN
 Action Actions Description

CODING SCHEME ID
COGNITION/ MIND
C-re Retrieval Recall and recognise existing structures from ADAPTED
memory. FROM -

Coding
C-as Association Connect two images, thoughts, ideas or psychological GENERATIVE
PROCESSES
phenomena.
THE
C-sy Mental synthesis Combine objects of thought, images, scenes or GENEPLORE

scheme
concepts.

COGNITION C-tr
C-an
Mental transformation
Analogical transfer
Mentally rearrange, reassemble and alter parts.
Transfer relationship or a set of relationship in one
context to another.

BODY
C-ca Categorical reduction Mentally reduce objects or elements to more
primitive categorical descriptions.
C-at Attribute finding Systematically search for emergent features in ADAPTED

ENVIRONMENT preinventive structures. FROM -

C-co Conceptual Take a preinventive structure and find an abstract, EXPLORATORY
PROCESSES
interpretation methaporical / theoritical interpretation of it.
THE
C-fu Functional inference Explore potential uses or functions of a preinventive GENEPLORE
structure.
C-tx Contextual shifting Consider a preinventive structure in a new or
different context to gain insights about other possible
uses or meanings.
C-hy Hypothesis testing Seek to interpret the structure as representing
possible solutions to a problem.
C-se Searching for Discover limitations to provide insights into which
limitations ideas will not work or what types of solutions are not
feasible.
BODY
D-rf Revision Revise the shape, size or texture of a depiction (by re- ADAPTED
drawing) FROM SUWA
D-c Creation Create a new depiction AND TVERSKY
D-ts Tracing (same sheet) Trace over a depiction on the same sheet of paper
D-td Tracing (new sheet) Trace over a depiction on a new sheet of paper
D-sy Symbol depiction Depict a symbol that represents a relation
D-wo Textual aid Write sentences or words that express ideas
L Previous depiction Look or attend to previous depiction
M-od Movement (over Move a pencil to the previous depiction
previous depiction)
M-a Movement (sheet Move a depiction against the sheet beneath
beneath)
M-hg Hand gesture* Use hand gesture ADDED BASED
M-og Other gesture* Use gesture other than hand gesture ON
OBSERVATION
ENVIRONMENT
E-db Written design brief Look at given design brief BASED ON
E-dt Design tools Utilise design tool OBSERVATION
E-p Paper Adjust paper or representation medium
E-ps Physical surrounding Refer to physical setting of experiment room
E-b Blindfold Adjust blindfold
INPUT: OUTPUT:
Online data visualisation tool
EG1-4
 TRANSCRIPT SK SESSION
 IDENTIF IED #6-#25
CRITICAL
IDEAS
 COGNITION
CODE OUTPUT 1
 COGNITION
LINKS
 BODY CODE
 BODY LINKS
 ENVIRON MENT
CODE
 ENVIRON MENT
LINKS
OUTPUT 3

OUTPUT 2
See this paper for more explanations related to the visualisation tool devised for the PhD project:

Tedjosaputro, M. A. & Shih, Y.-T. (2018). A visualization tool to investigate the

interplay of external and internal processes. International Conference on-Design
Computing and Cognition, 2018. Springer, 669-686.
 COMPARISON:
RQ1 S K E TC H I N G A N D
M E N TA L I M A G E R Y
6 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

INTERPLAY:
RQ2 INTERNAL AND
EXTERNAL
PROCESSES
2 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

COMPARISON:
RQ3
ARCHITECTURE
AND PDM
INFERRING LINKS
THEMATIC ENQUIRY
The idea of the enquiry is to use keywords to
draw links. It can be performed 1) manually or
2) digitally, with the help of MS Excel and Nvivo
(both are programs). I used both methods but
found that manually inferring links is more
effective and less time consuming
LINKOGRAPHY ANALYSIS FOR RQ1
Does the dominant use of external representations (sketches) have more advantages compare
to dominant use of internal representations (mental imagery) in the ideation stage?

RH1.1. Creating new associations is more effective in predominantly mental imagery

sessions.
RH1.2. Creative discovery is supported more in predominantly sketching sessions.
RH1.3. Simulation is better performed in predominantly mental imagery sessions.
RH1.4. Presenting information is more likely to be achieved in predominantly sketching
sessions.
RH1.5. The speed of idea development in predominantly mental imagery sessions makes it
a more effective cognitive design tool.
RH1.6. Transformation is better facilitated in predominantly sketching session.
RESEARCH HYPOTHESES WAYS TO OBSERVE
RH1.1. Creating new associations is 1. Number of links in each session.
more effective in predominantly 2. Occurrences of Cog(C-as).
mental imagery sessions. 3. Occurrences of Cog(C-re)+Cog(C-as).
4. Idle Cognition actions.
RH1.2. Creative discovery is 1. Link indices.
supported more in predominantly 2. Occurrences and identified newly developed and previously
sketching sessions. processed CIs (Critical Ideas).
3. Shape of linkographs.
RH1.3. Simulation is better performed 1. Observing Cog(C-hy).
in predominantly mental imagery 2. Micro linkography link patterns.
sessions.
RH1.4. Presenting information is 1. Previous moves of Cog(C-at).
more likely to be achieved in 2. CM> by looking at types of exhibited information.
predominantly sketching sessions.
RH1.5. The speed of idea 1. Behaviour rate in 4 phases.
development in predominantly 2. Overall forelinks and backlinks rates.
mental imagery sessions makes it a
more effective cognitive design tool.
RH1.6. Transformation is better 1. Newly formed ideas previously mentioned in RH1.2.
facilitated in predominantly sketching 2. Vertical and lateral transformations of ideas.
session.
RH1.2. Creative discovery is 1. Link indices.
supported more in predominantly 2. Occurrences and identified newly developed and previously
sketching sessions. processed CIs (Critical Ideas).
3. Shape of linkographs.

The higher the rate is, the higher the chance a designer is exposed to discovery. The average of link indices of the control
group ( D sessions condition) was used as a baseline to compare link indices in SK and MI sessions.
RH1.2. Creative discovery is 1. Link indices.
supported more in predominantly 2. Occurrences and identified newly developed and previously
sketching sessions. processed CIs (Critical Ideas).
3. Shape of linkographs.

Types of LI pattern do
not correlate with the
treatments.
RH1.2. Creative discovery is 1. Link indices.
supported more in predominantly 2. Occurrences and identified newly developed and previously
sketching sessions. processed CIs (Critical Ideas).
3. Shape of linkographs.

In all three conditions; more than half of CIs are newly formed ideas which occurred throughout the session.
The average in SK and MI sessions was similar, approximately 52%. However, in D sessions, newly thought CIs occurred
more. In terms of how these newly formed ideas came to light, they can be related to these notions (Notion #1-#12).
RH1.2. Creative discovery is 1. Link indices.
supported more in predominantly 2. Occurrences and identified newly developed and previously
sketching sessions. processed CIs (Critical Ideas).
3. Shape of linkographs.

The occurrences of Type 1

which occurred twice in MI
sessions, in comparison to once in
SK sessions.
A notion that even without access
to externalisations, some MI
sessions were able to facilitate
discovery whilst maintaining a
singular concept throughout the
session, a notion which has been
argued against.
RH1.3. Simulation is better 1. Observing Cog(C-hy).
performed in predominantly mental 2. Micro linkography link patterns.
imagery sessions.

One way to simulate is by

running an idea in mind as a
hypothesis, the process of
testing out potential
solutions to a given problem.
RH1.3. Simulation is better 1. Observing Cog(C-hy).
performed in predominantly mental 2. Micro linkography link patterns.
imagery sessions.
In SK conditions, simulations potentially can be used to
simulate:
1) Shape emergence from a design feature
2) Spatial ideas
3) Solutions
In MI conditions:
1) Spatial considerations
2) Evaluations
3) Functional considerations
4) Volumetric inferences
5) Solutions
In D conditions:
1) Spatial simulation
2) Functional considerations
3) Potential solutions
4) System
RH1.3. Simulation is better 1. Observing Cog(C-hy).
performed in predominantly mental 2. Micro linkography link patterns.
imagery sessions.
6 HYPOTHESES OBSERVATIONS
HOW DATA WAS PROCESSED

Linkography was used in conjunction with other

methods of analysis and data presentations
Ways data were intended to be used, were
elaborated
Scenarios were enumerated
Data was interpreted based on scenarios
Results were drawn
(RE-ITERATED) OBJECTIVES

 Better understanding of Linkography as a method of

analysis.
 Becoming aware of advantages and disadvantages of the
method in comparison with other methods.
 Helping to materialise how Linkography can be used in your
current or future projects.
BENEFITS AND DRAWBACKS
BENEFITS:
Moves can be viewed in sequence
Concentrated links can be viewed
Moves represent the universe in which the
designer acts during the vignette that is
captured in the protocol.

DRAWBACKS:
Time consuming
Inter-rater reliability
Often it is hard to reinterpret
HOW WOULD
YOU USE
LINKOGRAPHY
IN YOUR
RESEARCH?
T H A NK YO U
ANY QUESTIONS?
LEARN MORE