scholarly journals Experiments in Experience: Towards an Alignment of Research through Design and John Dewey's Pragmatism

Design Issues ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 5-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Dixon
Keyword(s):  
Design Practice ◽  
Research Through Design ◽  
Core Components ◽  
Unique Approach ◽  
Key Features ◽  
Epistemological Basis ◽  
Theory Of Inquiry

This article draws an alignment between John Dewey's Pragmatism and design inquiry or, particularly, research which incorporates design practice. Three core components of Dewey's philosophy are described—namely, his theory of inquiry, his theory of communication, and his metaphysics—all of which are seen to interlink to form a unique approach to knowledge. From this, a number of key features of the approach are set out. When held in combination, it is argued that these features hold the potential to enrich the epistemological basis of design inquiry.

Preservation for diverse users: digital preservation and the “Designated Community” at the Ontario Jewish Archives

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan Moles
Keyword(s):  
Digital Preservation ◽  
Reference Points ◽  
Digital Information ◽  
User Group ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Open Archival Information System ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Core Components ◽  
Unique Approach

PurposeConventional approaches to digital preservation posit that archives should define a Designated Community, or future user group, for whom they preserve digital information. Archivists can then use their knowledge of these users as a reference to help them deliver digital information that is intelligible and usable. However, this approach is challenging for archives with mandates to serve wide and diverse audiences; these archives risk undermining their efforts by focusing on the interests of a narrow user group.Design/methodology/approachA unique approach to this challenge was developed in the context of a project to build a digital preservation program at the Ontario Jewish Archives (OJA). It draws from previous research on this topic and is based on a combination of practical and theoretical considerations.FindingsThe approach described here replaces the reference of a Designated Community with three core components: a re-articulation of the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) mandatory responsibilities; the identification of three distinct tiers of access for digital records; and the implementation of an access portal that allows digital records to be accessed and rendered online. Together with supplemental shifts in reference points, they provide an alternative to the concept of a Designated Community in the determination of preservation requirements, the identification of significant properties, the creation of Representation Information and in the evaluation of success.Originality/valueThis article contributes a novel approach to the ongoing conversation about the Designated Community in digital preservation, its application and its limitations in an archival context.

scholarly journals Exploring speculative methods

2019 ◽  
pp. 146-164
Author(s):  
Alan Hook
Keyword(s):  
Research Method ◽  
Mixed Reality ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Body ◽  
Design Practice ◽  
Embodied Experience ◽  
Research Through Design ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
Speculative Design ◽  
Immersive Technology

This article explores approaches to propagating interspecies understanding and examines the most appropriate ways to investigate the topic as a form of research. It addresses making, or Research through Design (RtD), as a more appropriate research method to generate new knowledge around interspecies embodied experience and to help audiences consider what it might be like to be a nonhuman animal than more traditional forms of scholarship. It presents a range of approaches to exploring interspecies understanding and then situates this knowledge in context with reference to a series of prototypes and design artifacts which constitute the body of work Equine Eyes. The Equine Eyes project consists of a mixed-reality headset, which uses immersive technology to help the user adopt the “point of view” of a horse. The work and the knowledge it produces is experiential in that it requires the audience to wear the headset which simulates horse-like vision to consider how tacit knowledge can be explored through making. The project adopts a RtD method to explore how speculative design artifacts, and play, can be utilised to help foster interspecies thinking and understanding and generate new speculative methods for interspecies design practice. It emphasizes the importance of developing usable speculative design artifacts that can be experienced by users to enact the speculation as an embodied experience.

scholarly journals dwelling + design: exploring the potential for dwelling to inform media design with the installation dark; and the light

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Meredith Crowe
Keyword(s):  
Martin Heidegger ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Digital Design ◽  
Design Practice ◽  
Interactive Installation ◽  
Media Design ◽  
Creative Practice ◽  
Research Through Design ◽  
Limited Success

<p>The theory of dwelling is a valuable topic for media designers to explore in order to further our understanding of the connection individuals make with designs. This research suggests that to promote dwelling successfully, digital design must prompt people to understand it in essence and balance, must encourage private or communal reflection and development, and must encourage people to connect meaningfully with the design; this manifests by people caring for it and being conscious of it. dwelling + design explores the theory of dwelling as research through design and research for design; through the interactive installation dark; and the light. Dwelling is discussed with reference to three main philosophers; Martin Heidegger, Christian Norberg-Schulz, and Pavlos Lefas. As a wider investigation of how dwelling can inform design practice, the theory is also investigated both as an informative theory for creative practice and an attitude that can be embraced by people when receiving or encountering creativity. dwelling + design finds that dwelling is valuable to designers as an attitude towards the design process, but has limited success as an informer of aesthetics or as an intended experience for participants.</p>

scholarly journals Planting and Tending Digital-Nature Hybrids in a Walled Kitchen Garden

Design Issues ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 65-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Edwards ◽  
Paul Coulton ◽  
Andy Darby ◽  
Mike Chiasson
Keyword(s):  
Critical Theory ◽  
Design Approach ◽  
Design Practice ◽  
Kitchen Garden ◽  
Initial Design ◽  
Design Iteration ◽  
Research Through Design ◽  
Digital Nature

This paper presents various digital-nature artifacts designed to support visitor engagement in a National Trust garden environment. While selected critical theory guided the initial design of interpretation artifacts, we discuss how a research through design approach (RtD) and our attendance at the Research through Design (RTD) 2015 conference informed our subsequent design practice, notably in relation to iterations of the artifacts. In particular, we reflect on how each design iteration within the RtD process revealed knowledge about materials, values, engagement and place.

scholarly journals dwelling + design: exploring the potential for dwelling to inform media design with the installation dark; and the light

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Meredith Crowe
Keyword(s):  
Martin Heidegger ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Digital Design ◽  
Design Practice ◽  
Interactive Installation ◽  
Media Design ◽  
Creative Practice ◽  
Research Through Design ◽  
Limited Success

<p>The theory of dwelling is a valuable topic for media designers to explore in order to further our understanding of the connection individuals make with designs. This research suggests that to promote dwelling successfully, digital design must prompt people to understand it in essence and balance, must encourage private or communal reflection and development, and must encourage people to connect meaningfully with the design; this manifests by people caring for it and being conscious of it. dwelling + design explores the theory of dwelling as research through design and research for design; through the interactive installation dark; and the light. Dwelling is discussed with reference to three main philosophers; Martin Heidegger, Christian Norberg-Schulz, and Pavlos Lefas. As a wider investigation of how dwelling can inform design practice, the theory is also investigated both as an informative theory for creative practice and an attitude that can be embraced by people when receiving or encountering creativity. dwelling + design finds that dwelling is valuable to designers as an attitude towards the design process, but has limited success as an informer of aesthetics or as an intended experience for participants.</p>

scholarly journals NOVICE DESIGNERS TACKLE AND REFLECT ON THEIR PROCESS USING THE DESIGNERLY ACTIVITY THEORY

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 2257-2266
Author(s):  
Virginie Tessier ◽  
Mithra Zahedi
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Model ◽  
Activity Theory ◽  
Design Theory ◽  
Data Gathering ◽  
Design Activity ◽  
Design Practice ◽  
Research Through Design ◽  
Novice Designers ◽  
Theory Framework ◽  
Do So

AbstractSchön used the metaphor of the swamp and mountain to express the divide between the problems tackled by practitioners and scientists. This research is concerned about the same persisting dilemma between design practice and design theory. In an attempt to discuss this dilemma, we propose to explore research through design (RtD) as a privileged approach where novice designers gain knowledge as practitioners and as researchers. Being aware that RtD approach has received criticisms regarding validity, bias and reliability, we put forward a set of theoretical tools allowing designers to simultaneously proceed with design activity and data gathering processes. To do so, the designerly activity theory framework was presented and explained to two novice designers. They were asked to use the theory's model during an internship project experience, to record their daily actions and later, to proceed with analysis of gathered data. Doing so, we gained a clearer interpretation of the impacts of using a theoretical model as a complement for research through design. We discuss the depth of the participants' reflections, the awareness to less noticeable components, and the enriched dialog between practice and theory.

Influence of Conceptual Sketches on Variety, Typology, and Novelty of Elicited Requirements

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick Spivey ◽  
Brian Davenport ◽  
Akash Patel ◽  
Joshua Ortiz ◽  
Joshua D. Summers
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Students ◽  
Intermediate Step ◽  
Theoretical Construct ◽  
Design Practice ◽  
Student Behaviors ◽  
Engineering Design Process ◽  
Study Support ◽  
Key Features ◽  
Positive Effect ◽  
Initial Concept

Abstract The generally accepted engineering design process involves generating requirements prior to developing concepts. Despite this, educators often observe that student engineers tend to have ideas for the eventual solution even before fully defining the problem. Thus, a method of exploiting this natural proclivity may result in a better overall product or process. Coevolutionary design, in which a problem and its solution are developed interdependently, may provide a theoretical construct for such a method. It may be that allowing for the creation of sketches as a first step may improve the resulting requirements, which in turn would enhance the result. To test this, an experiment was developed to observe the effects of rearranging the design sequence to use an early conceptual sketch in the elicitation of constraints and criteria. Requirements were generated by third- and fourth-year mechanical engineering students and were subsequently analyzed based on their variety, typology, and novelty. It was found that the use of a preliminary conceptual sketch had a significant (positive) effect on the typology and novelty of the resulting requirements (α = 0.05), though no change in their variety was observed. Also, an additional intermediate step of identifying key features in the sketch further influenced requirement characteristics. The findings of this study support the coevolutionary model of design and suggest that the sketching of ideas and the identification of features in advance of listing requirements may be a valid design practice in the future. By creating an initial concept sketch and then distinguishing the important aspects of that sketch, engineers would be able to extract applicable requirements which they find inherent in their initial ideas. Finally, this method can align more naturally with the approach that many students employ in design. Rather than modifying behaviors, this method can exploit student behaviors to positive effect.

Analysis of the Impact of Requirement-Sketch Sequencing on Requirement Generation in Conceptual Design

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-43
Author(s):  
Nicholas Spivey ◽  
Joshua Ortiz ◽  
Akash Patel ◽  
Brian Davenport ◽  
Joshua Summers
Keyword(s):  
Intermediate Step ◽  
Theoretical Construct ◽  
Significant Positive Effect ◽  
Design Practice ◽  
Student Behaviors ◽  
Feature Identification ◽  
Study Support ◽  
Key Features ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Positive Effect

Abstract Generally, engineering design progresses from generating requirements to developing concepts. Despite this, educators observe that students have ideas for the eventual solution before fully defining the problem. Thus, a method of exploiting this natural proclivity may result in a better overall product or process. Coevolutionary design may provide a theoretical construct for such a method. It may be that sketching as a first step may improve the resulting requirements, which in turn would result in higher quality solutions. To test this, an experiment is used to study the effects of rearranging the design sequence to use an early conceptual sketch in the elicitation of constraints and criteria. Requirements generated by students were analyzed based on their quantity, completeness, variety, typology, and novelty. It was found that the use of a preliminary conceptual sketch had a significant (positive) effect on the quantity, typology, and novelty of the resulting requirements, though no change in their variety was observed. Also, an additional intermediate step of identifying key features in the sketch further influenced requirement characteristics. The findings of this study support the coevolutionary model of design and suggest that the sketching of ideas and the identification of features in advance of listing requirements may be a valid design practice in the future. Using sketches and feature identification helps in clarifying requirements for the participants. Finally, this method can align more naturally with the approach that many students employ in design. Rather than modifying behaviors, this method can exploit student behaviors to positive effect.

The shaping of dissonance in craft-based innovation

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna HOLMQUIST ◽  
Mats MAGNUSSON ◽  
Mona LIVHOLTS
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
Manufacturing Process ◽  
Innovation Studies ◽  
Research Through Design ◽  
Key Features ◽  
Design Innovation ◽  
Process Context ◽  
Innovation Processes ◽  
Material Form

Novelty and value are two key features of any type of innovation and have consequently received much emphasis in design and innovation studies. Lately, the predominant unilateral emphasis on novelty has been questioned in an emerging literature stream focusing on the role of tradition in innovation, and recent research has shown that a potential way of creating value is to use a combination of novel and traditional components, resulting in what is suggested as design innovation dissonance. Drawing on research through design, this paper develops the writing of production novellas from the design of three different design innovation processes, the deliberate use of tensions between novelty and tradition in material, form, manufacturing process, context, and history is described and analysed, in order to unveil explicit steps of the design process.

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