Terry,
I think you make a most interesting point which is worth exploring and I admire your capacity to see things so clearly in black and white. Much more exciting than the grey world I live in.
I just have a couple of minor concerns based on (dare I say it) my design practice.
1. As you may know my design practice is based on research into design methods—research I began back in the 1960s and which continues to this day at our RESEARCH institute. by RESEARCH I mean investigations that lead to new knowledge, building on existing knowledge, or leading to new paradigms that challenge existing knowledge. Many of what we consider to be our most important findings and new ways of thinking are tested out in practice and sometimes shaped by practice. It does't seem to me a blocked road, indeed far from it. The evidence-based practice we have developed suggests we are getting better at solving some of the problems we face as designers.
2. The track record (based on the evidence) of contributions from other disciplines to my own little field of information design has not been all that good to date, but I live in hope.
I don't feel quite ready to disassociate design research from design practice, but I think the idea is intriguing and brave.
David
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blog: www.communication.org.au/dsblog
web: http://www.communication.org.au
Professor David Sless BA MSc FRSA
CEO • Communication Research Institute •
• helping people communicate with people •
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