Inkspire: Supporting Design Exploration with Generative AI through Analogical Sketching

TL;DR

Inkspire is a sketch-driven AI tool that enhances product design exploration by enabling analogical inspiration and iterative feedback, addressing limitations of existing Text-to-Image models in interpretability and creativity.

Contribution

We introduce Inkspire, a novel sketch-based interface that facilitates design exploration with analogical inspiration and a feedback loop, improving over traditional T2I tools.

Findings

Increased design inspiration and idea exploration with Inkspire.

Enhanced understanding of AI state to guide design intentions.

Better support for iterative, creative design processes.

Abstract

With recent advancements in the capabilities of Text-to-Image (T2I) AI models, product designers have begun experimenting with them in their work. However, T2I models struggle to interpret abstract language and the current user experience of T2I tools can induce design fixation rather than a more iterative, exploratory process. To address these challenges, we developed Inkspire, a sketch-driven tool that supports designers in prototyping product design concepts with analogical inspirations and a complete sketch-to-design-to-sketch feedback loop. To inform the design of Inkspire, we conducted an exchange session with designers and distilled design goals for improving T2I interactions. In a within-subjects study comparing Inkspire to ControlNet, we found that Inkspire supported designers with more inspiration and exploration of design ideas, and improved aspects of the co-creative process by allowing designers to effectively grasp the current state of the AI to guide it towards novel design intentions.