A new strategy to reduce design fixation: Presenting partial photographs to designers

•Presenting partial photographs of product examples can reduce design fixation.•Presenting designers with partial photographs increases the originality of the designs.•Presenting partial photographs does not harm the inspiration gained from the examples.

The occurrence of design fixation hinders designers from creating original designs. In this study, the authors investigate the effect of presenting partial photographs of product examples as a new strategy for reducing design fixation by testing its effect on designers' performance. Presenting partial photographs is intended to break the ‘path of least resistance,’ consequently promoting designers' creative thinking. The results show that designers who worked with partial photographs created more original designs than designers who worked with full photographs. It is also found that designers who were presented with partial photographs paid more attention to the details of the product and evaluated their designs more positively.