Stefanie asked: do "non-designers" make better design PhD students
than research students with a design background? One would
assume that being taught by a design *practitioner* would better
inform a future design PhD student
uh-oh. The answer is, "it all depends."
A problem with a student who has only a design background going into a
PhD program is that they lack the broad general knowledge from other
fields. For example, a solid background in social science (e.g.,
psychology), including statistics and experimental methods. Worse,
they may have a mindset that makes it difficult for them to acquire
these skills.
In Business, people with MBA degrees often have great difficulty if
they enter a PhD program in business for these reasons. Most business
schools prefer PhD students who do NOT have an MBA.
I think the answer is that it all depends upon the student.
Now I will reverse the question. Can there be good PhDs in design who
do not have a background in design practice?
I would like to believe that all researchers should have a solid
background in practice. I would also like all university professors to
have some real, practical business experience so that they would
actually know what their students will be facing. But these are
simply wild dreams.
I know really god theorists in numerous fields who never had a firm
foundation in the field in which they work. Computer Scientists who
can't program, for example. (Computer science is no more about
programming than design is about drawing.)
I, myself, consider myself working in the area of design
theory/research and I never got the proper grounding; I never took a
design course. And although I have considerable experience in
industry, I didn;t get that until after I was a very senior full
professor who had been teaching product design (HCI) for many years.
When I moved to industry, wow, I learned a lot. I now teach it
differently.
(Although I have no formal training, I have tried hard to self-educate
myself. Reading, practicing, visiting design firms and schools, and
taking seminar courses on various aspects of design. Teaching too,
which is a really good way to learn.)
So, it all depends.
Don
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