Dear Prashant and colleagues,
As per Ken's Book Review of BONNER's(2002) "Iconoclast. Abraham Flexner and a
Life in Learning" (this month Design Research News), Design Research is still
in its burgeoning infancy. This certainly is the reason why, to my present
(perhaps limited!) knowledge, there is not yet "seminal texts and literature"
nor acknowledged researchers in the field. Whereas, apparently, Marketing
Research seems to be an established field of inquiry for several years now.
It appears to me, therefore, that a qualitative comparison of the two fields
is rather untimely.
That being said, nonetheless, there are notable contributions towards the
establishment of a solid "common ground" of the Design field and Design
Research. Like the latest publication by Harold G. Nelson and Erik
Stolterman, as reported in today's post by Ulla-Maaria Mutanen. And needless
to mention all papers found in more and more available Design magazines,
online and in paper format.
I would also like here to draw attention to efforts that, in my view, deserve
even more support and encouragement. There presently is an increaging number
of Masters level and PhD students as well as recently graduated teachers in
Design who are struggling hard in brick-laying the foundations of the field.
By having their work more better known, perused and submitted to collective
debate, I am convinced we will thus all contribute to our advancement and
betterment as researcher and practitioners in Design. Pioneers like Paul
Micklewhaite, Cristiaan H. de Groot, Sara Ilstedt Hjelm, Canan Emine Unlu and
others, all need to be recognized as a springboard for reflection and work by
future generations of Designers. We ought to start from somewhere!
Here is a very short reference list of writings personally obtained from
people mentioned above. For whatever they are worth, these works and many
more alike could certainly be compiled in the form of a (international?)
registry and reference source accessible to us all as a starting point for
further explorations. Provided one of us take upon self in constituting such
a registry, as a "personal" endeavor.
- MICKLETHWAITE, P.(2002): What IS Design? An empirical investigation into
conceptions of design in the community of design stakeholders. PhD Thesis.
University of Huddersfield.
- de GROOT, C.H.(www2.rgu.ac.uk/criad/degroot/bracketing.pdf. Accessed in
June 2003): Bracketing Creative Practice: [De]sign. Birmingham Institute of
Art & Design (U.C.E.)
- HJLEM, S. I. (2003?): The dysfunctionality of everyday things. On stress,
design and artefacts. Interactive Institue /CID, KTH
- UNLU, C.E. (2000): Factors influencing Industrial Design education and
curriculum evaluation: educators', professionals' and employers' perceptions.
PhD Thesis. The Graduate School of Social Sciences of the Middle East
Technical University.
I also add the following reference in French that I personally consider quite
original and fundamental; yet, unfortunately like many others, almost totally
unknown! I may provide an abstract to those who do not read French.
- Jullien, Michel: Le domaine de l'usage: Relations Objets/Usagters/Milieu.
In IF (Industrialisation Forum), Vol. 9,(1978), No. 2-3: Cahier de l'Isuc No.
1.
Best regards.
François-X. N.I.NSENGA
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