<p>Inspiration plays a crucial role in both design activities and design education. This study conceptualizes “ancient cultural heritage” as “cultural inspiration“(CI) and categorizes it into two types: “abstract inspiration” (AbI) and “concrete inspiration“(CoI). The research aims to examine the significant role of different types of cultural inspiration in cultural product design activities. Through an exploratory experiment, design students were tasked with drawing inspiration from the features of ancient cultural heritage, generating as many design ideas as possible, and ultimately creating an innovative cultural product. Utilizing a multi-method approach, this study integrates eye-tracking analysis, subjective questionnaires, and expert evaluations to investigate the distinct roles of abstract inspiration (AbI) and concrete inspiration (CoI) in shaping creativity. The findings indicate that: (1) abstract inspiration (AbI) imposes a higher cognitive load, some participants still opted for it as a design reference and perceived it as an effective trigger for innovation, suggesting that an appropriate level of cognitive load may enhance cognitive motivation and foster creativity. (2) Differences in the intuitiveness of inspiration types influence design strategies, leading to greater creative extensibility in abstract inspiration (AbI), whereas concrete inspiration tends to result in direct form migration. (3) There is no significant difference between abstract inspiration (AbI) and concrete inspiration (CoI) in terms of fluency and practicality in design creativity outcomes. (4) Compared to concrete inspiration (CoI), abstract inspiration (AbI) more effectively enhances design flexibility and originality. These findings contribute to more targeted guidance on the selection and application of cultural inspiration in design education.</p>