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.