Dear list
Forgive me for sharing a master thesis project on a PhD-list but it might be justified because all master education I am involved in has a research aspect because it has ideally a role of developing further our concepts of designing for complexity.
The master thesis has created quite some attention recently and now they launched their own website.
www.designingfordignity.com
(BTW, I'm not so happy about the url since it is very close to this one: www.designfordignity.com)
It is the thesis by Manuela Aguirre and Jan Kristina Strømsnes who finalized this spring. I was the main supervisor.
Note that the master thesis format at our school (Oslo School of Architecture and Design) is a bit exotic. The two years master level ends with a thesis period of only one semester. So this project was done from scratch in four to five months.
It is not "scientific" in its genre but it represents a case of informed design moving into and opening up organizations for design on a systemic level. In this case the Sexual Assault Center (SAC) of the Oslo Emergency Hospital (Legevakten) and the corresponding police department. These organizations were initially not aware of the benefits of design for their operation.
The students used Systems Oriented design as their main approach (www.systemsorienteddesign.net) combined with service design methods, methods for co-design, user centred design and other approaches. It is an example of Research by Design but in this case for obvious reasons not reported upon inn a acceptable manner when regarding it as a research project. It was open-ended and generative: they had to start with a trust-building process when not knowing yet what would be the adequate design intervention. Through the processes of very rapid learning, using GIGA-mapping co-designing and holistic understanding they reached at their design interventions, which are exemplified by three instances on three different systemic scales and levels.
The response from the SAC and Police has been very positive.
The output as Research by Design is a project that produces a new horizon on what ought to be in that specific sector. It creates a new vision of what is possible and desirable in the field. The created horizon or vision is thoroughly rooted and connected to the existing reality and to data. This is a type of knowledge that is not about what is, but about what ought to be, or what is possible. This type of knowledge is only generated through the creation of design examples; through designing. We have seen this powerful function in other R&D projects e.g. the one we have with a Norwegian ship building company here communicated in a very intense way:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGDrdbsLV_8&feature=BFa&list=PL4i3BPNRm8YdgV-jG860MmFzuKHDOL5qP&index=3
I think this is the main knowledge-building function of Research by Design.
We hope to develop this project further towards a financed research proposal and further research, to investigate and develop these processes and exemplary cases with greater substance than what is possible in a one semester master thesis.
Best regards
Birger Sevaldson (PhD, MNIL)
Professor at Institute of Design
Oslo School of Architecture and Design
Norway
www.birger-sevaldson.no
www.systemsorienteddesign.net
www.ocean-designresearch.net
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