Grammar-Driven Tools: Building the Next Generation of Craft Design Tools

Shiqing (Licia) He, School of Information

Computer-aided design tools have revolutionized the way designers create art. Craft designers often need to acquire domain knowledge (e.g., material combination, craft-specific techniques, and typical constraints) and design tool knowledge (e.g., 2D graph manipulation and 3D modeling) independently. To bridge this gap, I develop and examine grammar-Driven Tools (GDTs) that have domain knowledge embedded. By designing, developing, and evaluating GDTs that support the design of three distinct types of craft, my dissertation investigates this novel framework for building design-aid tools.