I will make my spiel again and talk about what we talk here in a
different way. It all boils down to design programming/briefing. The
situation is more complex, but I will make a short cut.
We can talk about basic product research when we do not have a
particular commission to target. In that case we develop knew
knowledge for the data banks. Academic work, "basic" disciplines.
Basic in the sense that there is other disciplinary work that is
situated closer to R&D. When we get product research commission, we
gradually enter into the area of R&D work. We will use background
knowledge from the "basic" disciplines, we will do field research,
and we will aim at producing project-servicing knowledge. This
activity can be formatted as design programming.
The problem is that in the current design culture there is a lot of
talk about social aspects and social science research, but not that
much work. The root of the problem is that society doesn't understand
that. There is no demand and no commissions for such activities. I am
talking about building design. In product design it is somewhat
different, but from the talk on this list I get a sense that the
problem there still exists.
It is true that we have Ergonomics/Human Factors. However, there is
at least a couple of steps between these "basic applied" disciplines
and design programming or product evaluation. The paradox is that
these two project related activities and connections are "discovered"
decades ago, but the demand is still limited and the process of
professionalization is still in its early, very early stages. May be
the DRS community will discuss these issues in more depth and will
ultimately facilitate this process to a point when the society at
large will take on to support the new profession by creating demand
and offering commissions.
In a previous incident, Nussbaum was allow to throw the blame on
designers. The problem is not with designers, but with the way the
design commission is construed. I am frustrated that society didn't
get this message and the discussion went into venting feelings and
emotions. The social responsibility of designers will be defined only
when society defines it. After that the design industry will be
forced to develop research structures to respond to the new demand
and delegated responsibilities.
It is true that product research is insufficient. It is true that
design process research lacks adequate researching too. The whole
industry is not supported with research structures. It is lagging
behind of mechanical engineering and medicine, lagging in terms of
billions of dollars. Let's hope that some day society will understand
that product research is important and design programming is its
direct application.
Kind regards,
Lubomir Popov, Ph.D.
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