Think-Aloud Grammar: Constructing Design Thinking as an Artifact

Early design thinking often unfolds through tacit, situated, and shifting forms of judgment that are difficult to preserve through existing documentation methods. This thesis explores whether a tangible, rule-based representational system can make aspects of this process more explicit while still preserving its intuitive and evolving character. Rather than treating the design thinking process as one large and continuous whole, this thesis approaches it at a smaller scale: through recurring moments, shifts, and intentions. Identified and grouped through pilot studies, these categories are translated into the components of Think-Aloud Grammar, an exploratory system of color-coded LEGO bricks and simple assembly rules through which participants construct physical mind maps alongside a digital design task. These LEGO assemblies do not function as transparent records of thought; instead, they operate as situated traces through which parts of process may become more explicit and interpretable. Through this exploratory study, the thesis examines how participants used the system, how mind maps developed, and how they could be interpreted by others as shared process records. This thesis argues that grammar-based material systems can support new ways of studying and communicating early design thinking by giving process a form that can be spatially constructed, revisited, and discussed.