Hi David,
The idea for evidence was embraced much faster by designers than by researchers. The concept of evidence expanded the scope from research-based design to experience-based design. That is why practitioners prefer it.
I am not worried by a disjunction between academia and practice in the field of design. Both contribute in different ways to the development of the design professions. In the design fields where computation is at the basis of decision making, academia has much stronger position and a Ph.D. has value. In the fields where decisions are based on personal experience, even a bachelor degree is considered a nuisance imposed by society. We know how to do it and no one will teach us better.
If we research why practitioners use the term evidence, we will find their logic. But their logic is not scholarly. If we try to methodologize their thinking, we will definitely get something important and useful. But we have to be careful not to bless the 19th Century DNA of many design fields. Academic development and reproduction of a profession is very different from the crafts model. Part of the disagreements on this thread come from the different specialties of the discussants. I will ask again: where are the engineering designers now and why they keep silent. They can bring an important point of view on this thread.
I am also not sure that practitioners always get the right term for their pursuits. And I am not sure that their new pursuits always make sense. Practitioners are gullible when it comes to incorporation of fashionable scholarly ideas. This is a big concern for me. This sabotages academia and often empowers quazi-scholars to develop fashionable trends both in academia and in practice. In other cases, good trends might emerge in practice, but then their reflection and methodologization go on the wrong way.
Best wishes,
Lubomir
-----Original Message-----
From: PhD-Design - This list is for discussion of PhD studies and related research in Design [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of David Sless
Sent: Sunday, November 09, 2014 10:22 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: What is evidence in design and design research?
Hi All,
I’m with Garry, at least part of the way.
I find the disconnect between this thread and design practice profound, breathtaking in its lack of relevance outside academic debates of some 50 years ago, and profoundly depressing. I’m not sure the term “incommensurate” covers it, but it’s the one that comes most readily to mind. Perhaps I need another brandy!
With so many assumptions floating around about the nature of “evidence”, and all the clever and smart arguments that can be used to defend or deflate a particular points of view on the subject, it might be useful to ask practitioners why they used the term, in what context, and how they do useful work that involves the term “evidence”.
All the rest seems to me like posturing.
David
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