Representing design intents for design thinking process modelling

Design is the process in which designers use their expertise and experience to acquire design solutions. Most design results can only exhibit what the design is, but cannot reveal how and why an artifact is designed the way it is. Design intent is the motivations, rules and reasons behind design activities, and the capture, representation and transmission of design intent are of great significance to externalization of tacit knowledge. This paper addresses the representation of design intent for design thinking process modeling. The design thinking process model (DTPM) is composed of design intents, process knowledge and operations. The basic elements and categories of design intents are discussed in detail and eight types of design thinking process segments are expressed by the relationship of design intents and design operations. The examples of an original design process and a routine design process are taken to embody and validate the model.