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* Brief U.S. design graduate study case description
* Design vs. research
* Basis for Granting a PhD
* Selected Institute of Design abstract excerpts

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Ken Friedman and I have exchanged e-mail on the interesting thread
regarding PhD level work that has run in DRS since April. Ken suggested
that I send a contribution to provide an idea of the nature of graduate
level studies in design here in the U.S. I'm writing in response to his
invitation as well as out of appreciation for his substantial contributions
to the discussion so far.

--Christopher Nemeth
  M.S.,Design, CHFP

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Brief background

I completed my graduate studies at the Institute of Design, Illinois
Institute of Technology in Chicago in 1984. Studies were spread over a year
full-time and four years part time. My thesis, 286 pages in length,
proposed gesture recognition as a means of user-computer interaction
(suited to the advent of parallel processing). I presented my thesis before
my advisors in a rigorous, yet amicable, defense. The work was an original
contribution to the field. I published and presented two papers on the
content (for the 1992 Human Factors Association of Canada annual
conference, and for Interface '85, the joint conference between the Human
Factors Society and Industrial Designers Association of America). I
received the terminal degree in the field at the time: Master of Science,
Design.
     Since then, I have worked in product development and management at
Herman Miller, managed my own consultant practice, have been certified in
human factors, have taught at Northwestern University (engineering) and IIT
(design, product development, human factors, usability assessment) and am
completing a text on human factors research methods for John Wiley and Sons.

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Both academic and work experience have given me some insights into issues
that the DRS thread has addressed. Most often, I have seen comments related
to 1) design vs. research, and 2) the basis for granting a PhD. I'd like to
offer a few thoughts for your consideration and, perhaps, your comment.

1) Design vs. research

I have devoted a chapter of my current book manuscript to how we think
about problems. Without going into too much detail, two types of
rationality can be brought to bear on practical problems. Aristotle
described the two as Nous (Gr.) (Intellectus- Rom.), and Dianoia (Gr.)
(Ratiocinare-Rom.). Nous seeks a vision of the end toward which humans
strive. Dianoia works back from the end to the current state through
practical wisdom (phronesis) by pursuing means to reach ends in elegant,
yet not devious, ways.

Nous and dianoia find their practical application in two kinds of
decision-making that can be recognized today: effective and non-effective.
Effective decision making leads from precedents to consequences. Working
through all possible permutations provides a mechanical check to verify
that a solution is, in fact, valid. Non-effective decision-making leads
from consequence to precedents, leaping first to a conclusion by
intuitively constructing a proof and verifying it later through
reconstruction using the effective method. 'Elegant' decision-making
combines both.

The issue is not whether one researches through designing or vice versa.
The issue is whether one conducts elegant decion making through rigorous
effective and non-effective means. In the terms of the DRS discussion, this
is taking significant intuitive leaps (design) complemented by verifying
that the solution is valid (research).

The creation of user-centered products (artifacts, software, systems,
buildings) relies on knowledge of human behavior and physiology through
rigorous observation and experimentation. Methods to do that are the
substance of my manuscript.

2) The basis for granting a PhD

Others have done a great deal of work in this area. Notably, Prof. Charles
Owen developed the PhD program that is now in place at the Institute of
Design, IIT.

>From my viewpoint, the purpose of the terminal degree is to account for the
state of  knowledge in the field, make original contributions to it, create
new tools to do that, and enable others to learn how to do the same. In
that role, one needs to build relations with other bodies of knowledge
beyond one's own.

While I was a grad student, I was fortunate to be hired to write an
abstract on each product (M.S. Design) thesis in the Institute of Design
archives. Nearly all of the theses I read fulfilled the above description.
A few excerpts will provide examples to complement Ken's descriptions.

1965  Owen, Charles. The Modularization of Mechanical Systems
	in the Manufactured Home. 326 pages.
High costs and rates of building residences have made systems (e.g.,power,
plumbing, HVAC, data transmission) the central design consideration in home
construction. The challenge is to offer maximum flexibility while saving
materials and costs through centralizing and integrating services. The
author proposes a basic panel-truss-plywood sheet construction which would
be made stable by the injection of polyurethane foam. Installation would
consist of solvent joining on site. The systems module provides
manufactured flexibility making the best of both the architect's and the
factory's potential. The concept's application is demonstrated for the
Wallace McKinley and Associates' Puget Sound House.

1973  David, Robert. Proposal for a Diagrammatic Language
	for Design. 595 pages.
A common notational style, designed to make it easier to transition from
verbal to visual expression, would increase the likelihood of positive team
interaction. The author accounts for all known environmental graphical
methods, a-cultural universals of language, factual, deontic, explanatory
and instrumental issues to structure a diagrammatic language. 99
primitives, or basic notions, are formed into an abstractive hierarchy.
Charles Bliss' symbolic notation system is used to build a diagrammatic
language which is applied to the process of designing an actual residence
in northern California.

1974  McCauley, Hugo. An Informational Retrieval System Providing
	Controlled Serendipitous Search. 199 pages.
The creative problem-solver has a continual need for a high volume of
information from a broad variety of rapidly changing fields. What is needed
is an effective means of managing and retrieving current design-related
information easily and inexpensively. The author proposes FORTRAN data base
using keyword searching to provide associative and serendipitous search
techniques.

1974  Poggenpohl, Sharon. Man & Value & Object. 296 pages.
Man is continually influenced by deeply held values yet is not encouraged
to reflect on them. The author explores theories on esthetics and style,
valuation and symbolic communication, and introduces the concept of a
"Score for Value Application" to guide value decision-making. The method
outlines the potential value interaction of an individual and an object and
the transaction between them. A model course is proposed to encourage
students to pursue valuation individually.

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