Dear Håkan,
Thanks for your explanation on the
importance of understanding the
differences between those who 'do design'
and those who have a social role of 'designer'.
You said, <snip>
So the real challenge ... would probably be
to balance all articulations from external (or new)
design discourses with some articulations from
more internal (or traditional) design discourses.
<endsnip>
I wonder whether this is relevant to design research?
The central role of design research is to improve
design activity. In many cases, this means to
automate design activity, eliminate it, or at
very least transform it into different forms
than it is practiced. In all cases, the main
purpose of design research is to change what
designers do.
Design research requires careful study of
how design is done. The skills of design
research are to build theory that gives a
good predictive understanding of the radically
changing world of design activity in all its
forms and contexts. This is the ground for
efficiently developing improved design practices,
technologies to aid designers, and ways to
automate design activity.
In this, designers are the subject of study
rather than the experts in design research.
In that sense, the interest in Simon, Winograd
and others are as design researchers.
When they have also had a role and skill as
designers, this is secondary.
Two things I feel it is essential not to
mix up are the discourse of design
research, i.e. the discourse between
researchers, and the discourse of design,
i.e the discourse between or by designers.
The first is essential to design research and
to improving and hence changing design
practices. The second is a subject of
study of design research, rather than
a direct contribution to its body of
knowledge.
Therefore there is no need to balance between
different design discourses. It is a secondary issue
and irrelevant to many aspects of
design research.
Best wishes,
Terry
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Dr. Terence Love
Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia
Tel/Fax +61(0)8 9305 7629 (home office)
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____________________
Visiting Research Fellow
Institute of Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development
Management School, Lancaster University, UK
____________________
Visiting Professor
IADE, Lisboa
Portugal
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