What inspires designers? Preferences on inspirational approaches during idea generation

• Survey on the most preferred inspiration sources and methods designers use.
• Student designers prefer to use images over objects, and the latter more than text.
• Professional designers prefer to use equally more images and objects than text.
• Student designers show preference for mainly only one method, Brainstorming.
• Professionals have a slightly larger array of preferred methods than design students.
• Student designers show preference for mainly only one method, Brainstorming
• Professionals have a slightly larger array of preferred methods than design students.

Searching for inspirational stimuli is an essential step in the initial stages of the design process. However, there is a lack of information on what designers search for during such a phase. There is no distinction between what student and professional designers use as inspirational sources or idea generation methods. We present the results of a questionnaire involving 103 student and 52 professional designers on their reported preferences for inspirational approaches. Students and, to some extent, professional designers seem to give an exaggerated importance to a restricted number of approaches, when they could take advantage of a wide range of available resources. Further results have uncovered possible research directions for the exploration of alternative stimuli for inspiration during ideation phases.