Abstract

This study bridges two critical domains: the design process, which embodies human intentionality, and visual perception, a fundamental aspect of human cognition. It hypothesizes a shared invariance in problem solving across these domains and offers insights into integrating natural human phenomena (visual perception) into design problem solving (the design process). Methodologically, the research employs decomposition and composition for worldmaking, protocol analysis to examine the design process, and diagrammatic space to visualize how perception and action converge in the worldmaking process. The findings reveal a recurring cognitive pathway toward achieving simplicity—Awareness, Deduction, Circumscription, Resolution, and the Operation of Available Knowledge as feedback. This sequence highlights the dynamic and iterative interaction between activities (detection) and assessments (analysis). As part of the research contribution, the resulting diagram visualizes the process of achieving simplicity—understood as a cognitive resolution to complexity. The proposed framework is both descriptive and generative, with broad adaptability. It particularly opens new directions for AI-driven design, where emulating human problem-solving structures is increasingly essential.