Some interesting threads.....

Does design create knowledge, is knowledge a 'distraction', should 
knowledge have utility value ?

Designing certainly does create knowledge - within individuals and organisations and if shared, more widely than that. 
Perhaps we are little afraid that some thing as ÔusefulÕ as design can create something as grandiose as knowledge. 
So, yes maybe we are too distracted by a particular definition of knowledge.

It is worth remembering that knowledge is often ( and perhaps always?) É

- situated Ð what is true for one designer, consumer, organisation is not necessarily so for another. This not mean that it is not knowledge nor 
  that it is not rigorously researched knowledge.

- socially constructed Ð we conspire to give meaning to things (and words). 
  
This discussion group is an excellent example of an attempt to 
socially construct meanings for research, design, knowledge etc. The 
search for group agreement is all the more urgent where there is no 
empirical evidence for Ôthe truthÕ. 

- transient Ð knowledge will and rapidly does, become old and is replaced by the new. Within the organisational
  context this makes what we know less important than how we find out 
 (social capital, research etc) and how we use knowledge (learning). 
 Somewhat like KenÕs view of knowledge, learning is not a thing in its 
 own right, but is evidenced only by change Ð it is knowledge applied 
 with purpose.

This brings me round to the value of knowledge. There are many purposes for which we seek knowledge and I would not wish 
to disparage the idea that we might collect knowledge for its own sake. However, in many areas, research agendas 
are actively identified by industry. Industry participates in knowledge creation and dissemination. I think we do 
not involve the Ôdesign industryÕ enough in this process. This has been made apparent to me particularly recently, 
when the UKs RAE went by without comment from the design industry and at a time when it is becoming increasingly difficult 
to find industrial participants for research projects. I am not trying to blame the industry here, but to suggest that design 
researchers do not engage employers in the debate Ð in the mean time we 
have become adept at responding to the design industryÕs 
needs in the form of appropriately ÔtrainedÕ young undergraduates. 

Is our role therefore merely to provide fresh, cannon fodder and not 
to contribute to the development of learning cultures or to help the design industry survive in the knowledge economy?

Philippa Ashton,
Staffordshire University
UK