Cognitive Impact of Generative AI as a Scaffolding Tool for Novice Designers in Product-Service System Design

Sammanfattning

Generative AI (GenAI) has been widely applied to education and design practice in recent years, especially using it as a scaffolding tool to achieve learning goals. However, generic GenAI usually lacks domain expertise knowledge and the structure to support the design’s cognitive thinking process, thus making it difficult to effectively scaffold novice designers to complete complex Product-Service System (PSS) Design task. Based on this gap, this research seeks to investigate how different level GenAI tools can affect novice designers’ learning, design cognition, and cognitive load in PSS design. This study builds a research framework based on the PSS Design Schema and protocol analysis methods. We developed three GenAI tools with different levels of scaffolding support with domain-specific knowledge. Novice designers were invited to complete PSS design tasks, with their design thinking process data collected through type-aloud protocols. The study evaluated learning effects using Bloom’s taxonomy, examined novice design cognition through protocol coding analysis (based on FBS, HSA, and Markov transition analysis), and assessed cognitive load using the NASA Task Load Index (TLX). This study suggested that structured scaffolding in GenAI tools can meaningfully enhance novice designers’ learning and design cognition in PSS design and that the pedagogical design of tool instructions matters more than the expert knowledge supplied.