Hi all,

I'm a doctoral student at the University of Art and Design Helsinki  
(focusing on conceptual creation of ideas in social interaction), and  
I've been following the list with a great interest. And I also did  
follow this thread until it exploded into a debate between the  
confines of design vs. engineering.

To get back on track, I shall return to the very important question  
that Alireza outlined: "where are we going in this field?"

Essentially the fact seems to be that we simply cannot get a solid  
picture of the field unless we defined it so abstract as it would  
completely silence the uneasiness that motivates a closer look on  
where we are heading. The thread, so far, has contained several  
important contributions both to EXPAND our picture of the field and to  
DEFINE the field. Less voiced are the WAYs in which these two things  
are now achieved, i.e. through a debate in an e-mail list, and, how  
these ways actually have a great impact on how we come to perceive  
where we are.

Research fields, so far, have been defined and expanded through  
journals, conferences, other publications, and public debate (you may  
add here more traditional ways if you wish). As a rather young  
researcher I have been grown in the era of computers (also graduated  
from that field), and seen how the developments in the means of  
exchange has dramatically influenced how we conceive things. Networked  
computers are now providing us with unforeseen pace at which to  
explore material, relate things together, and deliver understandable  
stuff in front of our eyes. I claim that through these means we have  
now some decent assistance to keep us updated with where we are (on a  
level that we may feel helpful).

The uneasiness about where we are heading will most certainly not be  
resolved by "networked calculation". My point is to make us  
increasingly aware that any static definition of our field will  
eventually fail, or will prove fundamentally uninteresting, and that  
we are getting new ways of keeping us informed.

And, let's keep trying.

Kind regards,

Salu Ylirisku
Doctoral student in design research
University of Art and Design Helsinki / School of Design

PS: If you are interested in what is going on at the moment, you could  
for example take a look of the www.siri.com. It underpins the most  
interesting technological developments currently (if you look deeper  
into how the system comes to understand what you say - not just the  
superficial fact that it is actually understanding something with the  
particular device).