Erik and list,
I think there is much on which we agree, but let me take up a few
points from your post:
> if the purpose of theory is to reduce the space of possible
> actions (solutions), then an ultimate theory would of course fully
> remove the designers choice and the designers judgment.
>
I think this is too narrow a conception of the purpose of theory.
When I refer to theory as a description of what we do, or what we
have done in the past and might want to repeat in some respects in
the future, it doesn't automatically follow that the 'purpose of
theory is to reduce the space of possible action' A good theory may
in fact do the reverse and point to deficiencies in current
solutions that entail an increase in the space of possible actions.
Let me give a concrete example from my own work.
Our work focuses on designing information so that people can use the
information effectively. In focusing on this issue we often discover
that the information space is deficient. For example, in our work on
medicine information we have found that the 'official' 'voice' of
government or the pharmaceutical industry, however well constructed,
is an insufficient range of 'voices' to help people use the medicine
effectively. Time and time again, we have discovered that there is an
important missing voice--that of the medicine user, the patient or
consumer. As in many areas of design, we discover that the people who
use products--in this case medicine--create and accumulate a body of
expertise which is quite different to the conventional 'expertise'
about medicine. Among people who suffer from chronic conditions this
expertise is particularly developed and sophisticated. Adding this
'voice' into the mix of 'voices' makes the overall result more
effective, because it legitimizes a previously unheard voice with
which people identify. This in turn can give individuals or groups
within this community the confidence to articulate their views
further, in some cases with consequences that go way beyond the
information and may result in pressure on industry and government to
change they ways in which the medicines themselves are designed and
administered.
So, what may seem like a mode of thinking--theory--which seems 'to
reduce the space of possible actions' in fact ends up expanding the
space of possible actions, many of which could not be foreseen from
the starting conditions. At the same time as we close gaps, we open
up spaces. To work in the new spaces we need new descriptions. This
means that there is never a possibility or expectation of ultimate
theory, only descriptions that more or less work in the world we create.
Picking up another point from your post:
> Can design be over researched?
>
I agree with Michael Brigg's commentary on this, but would like to
add a point with a slightly different inflection and a more practical
focus. In any research or investigative activity, there may come a
point where we have more data than we can use. One of the practical
questions one has to face, given limited time and budget, is 'how
much is enough'? Arising from this is an even harsher practical
question. There comes a point where added information or greater
accuracy in measurement does not lead to greater control. I could,
for example, in making decisions about typographical hierarchies,
measure and test variations in point size down to 0.1 of a point or
smaller. But doing so would give me no greater control of how a
reader might use some text I am designing. So for most practical
purposes I would only measure down to 0.5 of a point, and then only
for small sizes within a range of 6 to 13 points.
But to one part of your question:
> Can research change the very nature of
> design,
>
My reply would be, I hope so!
And I agree that:
> there is something learned from the exercise of taking something
> to its extreme
>
particularly if the extreme is abstract, namely, that doing so rarely
improves our practical understanding.
David
--
Professor David Sless BA MSc FRSA
Director • Communication Research Institute of Australia
• helping people communicate with people •
60 Park Street • Fitzroy North • Melbourne • Australia • 3068
Mobile: +61 (0)412 356 795
Phone: +61 (0)3 9489 8640
web: http://www.communication.org.au
On 31/10/2005, at 9:25 AM, Erik Stolterman wrote:
|