Questions, Hypotheses & Conjectures was created with research students in mind; however, the issues and ideas are relevant to all members of the design community. It contains not only current design research projects but also the debates, dialogical thinking, and intellectual struggles involved in arriving at research questions.

There are two contributions from each author: the original abstract or poster with comments and a final paper. The comments highlight the paper's positive directions and ambitious goals, point out critical issues to explore, and also expose oversights common to the early stages of academic research.

The papers are arranged to follow the typical steps a researcher takes in the journey of arriving at grounded questions, plausible hypotheses, or informed conjectures. Each group of papers gives a sense of what is generally required or achieved at that step. Taken as a whole, the papers show that arriving at research questions, hypotheses, and conjectures is an achievement and requires a demanding process that is often unfamiliar to and underestimated by beginning researchers.

Themes include service and socially oriented design, design thinking and method development, management of multidisciplinary design teams, and design as meaning construction. The special articles raise the fundamental and not-yet-resolved issues of the bases and purposes of design research.

QUESTIONS, HYPOTHESES & CONJECTURES

DISCUSSIONS ON PROJECTS BY EARLY STAGE AND SENIOR DESIGN RESEARCHERS

iUniverse, Inc.

Design Research Network
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4502-5966-8

Contents

Foreword /// Rosan Chow, Wolfgang Jonas, Gesche Joost...............................................................................08Acknowledgements....................................................................................................................13Seeing the Future through Aesthetics: A Sustainable Approach........................................................................Poster 16to Solving Real-World Problems /// Doaa El Aidi.....................................................................................Final Paper 20"Why Do I, as a Design Researcher, Always...........................................................................................Poster 24Have to Explain Myself?"/// Dennis Oswald...........................................................................................Final Paper 28Questions and Hypotheses: When Design Management....................................................................................Poster 34Embraces Visualization in the Chinese Context /// Fan Xia...........................................................................Final Paper 38Improving Communication in Development Processes....................................................................................Abstract 46through Design /// Mareike Graf and Carmen Hartmann-Menzel..........................................................................Final Paper 49Mind the Gap: Theories and Practices in.............................................................................................Poster 56Managing Service Design /// Qin Han.................................................................................................Final Paper 60Matrices & Experiences, a Pursuit of Looking........................................................................................Poster 68and Communicating /// Thierry Lagrange..............................................................................................Final Paper 72Crafting the Space for Change: Towards a New Perspective on Design's Contribution to Community Development..........................Abstract 80and Democracy /// Lesley McKee......................................................................................................Final Paper 84Seduction and Healing in Architectural Design:......................................................................................Abstract 89Designer as Mediator in.............................................................................................................Poster 104HCI Design Practice /// Mithra Zahedi...............................................................................................Final Paper 108Pragmatic Semiotics and Design: How do the..........................................................................................Abstract 116Artifacts Communicate? /// Sarah Belkhamsa..........................................................................................Final Paper 120An Approach by Design for Project Management........................................................................................Abstract 132and Organizational Design /// Michel de Blois.......................................................................................Final Paper 139Questioning the Student Experience..................................................................................................Abstract 152in Design Education /// Stella Boess................................................................................................Final Paper 156The Janus-Faced Aspect of...........................................................................................................Abstract 168Architecture /// Dag Boutsen........................................................................................................Final Paper 174Unready-Made Artifacts for Open.....................................................................................................Abstract 188Interpretation /// Katharina Bredies................................................................................................Final Paper 194Critical Engagement: Design's Role in...............................................................................................Abstract 207Counter-terror Communication /// Lisa Cresswell.....................................................................................Final Paper 209A New Evaluation and Innovation Framework for Sustainable Design: Addressing the Limits of Current..................................Abstract 219Sustainability Assessment Methods /// Carmela Cucuzzella............................................................................Final Paper 223Hypothesizing about Design from the Perspective.....................................................................................Abstract 241of Visual Rhetoric /// Annina Schneller.............................................................................................Final Paper 247Narrative Scenarios in Industrial Design Processes: Selecting Opportunities for the Investigation of................................Abstract 256Design Methods /// Christian Wlfel.................................................................................................Final Paper 261Searching for Design Research Questions: Some Conceptual Clarifications /// Alain Findeli...........................................278On Ducts and Design /// Keith Russell...............................................................................................294CONTRIBUTORS........................................................................................................................304

Foreword

Design Research is often self-conscious about its lack of systematic method s and theories in comparison to other academic disciplines. This self-consciousness, on the one hand, has to a certain degree advanced the quality of design discourse; on the other hand, it has resulted in much research that is methodologically rigorous but conceptually weak. "Here is the solution and what was the problem?" seems to describe the unfavorable character of much design research. It has been forgotten that it is questions and ideas that give meaning and value to meticulously executed research. To promote rigor in formulating research questions and conceiving new ideas, the Design Research Network organized the learning conference Questions & Hypotheses in 2008 in Berlin. The Design Research Network is a platform established in 2007 particularly to serve research students in Design. Students are encouraged to take an active role in raising questions and participating in discussions in order to inform and help each other.

The debates and discussions on the presentations at the conference were both critical and constructive. To preserve and disseminate these valuable discussions and to encourage continuous learning, this book Questions, Hypotheses & Conjectures was conceived. The contributing authors are mainly early stage design researchers who presented their projects at the conference. Authors were asked to capture and reflect on the comments, questions, and discussions during the conference. Based on these reflections, the authors rewrote their papers. There are therefore two contributions from each author: the original abstract or poster with comments and a final paper. The comments have originated mainly from our invited senior researchers and are particularly educative. They highlight the positive directions, ambitious goals and critical issues to explore. They also expose common oversights which must be addressed. Often overlooked tasks include reviewing major literature, adequately defining or articulating concepts and terms, generalizing based on sufficient evidence, clearly stating relevancy and values, arguing logically, examining assumptions, and building theoretical ground. If you compare the original posters or abstracts with the final papers, then you will not only appreciate how the authors succeed at synthesizing what they have learned into fruitful thoughts and ideas, but also the hidden process of refining questions, hypotheses and conjectures.

The papers are not arranged by theme here, rather, they are deliberately arranged in such a way as to reflect the mental journey that the authors have taken, to arrive at grounded questions, plausible hypotheses or informed conjectures. The papers have been arranged in this way to serve pedagogical purposes and the arrangement should not be interpreted as ranking the quality of the papers. It should also be mentioned that it is not straight-forward to sort the papers in this way. There are certainly debatable cases. However, when collected together, the papers give a sense of what is generally required or achieved at each step. As a whole, they show that arriving at research questions, hypotheses and conjectures is a significant achievement and requires a demanding process that is often unfamiliar to and underestimated by junior researchers. Through this arrangement, we would like to encourage readers to take the important steps of conceptualizing research seriously.

PART 1 — INTENT OR INTEREST

The authors talk about the research topics that interest them and explain briefly their motivations and intents. Here DOAA EL AIDI shows her interest in contributing to alleviating poverty in Egypt through design and particularly by system thinking. She belongs to an emergent domain, namely social innovation, which is very much open for exploration. Whereas the development of methods and tools for design practice has a longer tradition, social innovation is relatively new in design research. In spite of this, DENNIS OSWALD believes that the design community must become better at presenting design methods and proposes developing a tool to support this. Furthermore, FAN XIA would like to bring visualization methods to Design Management in China through research focusing on innovative approaches to facilitating interdisciplinary creative teams.

PART 2 — WORK IN PROGRESS

The authors study, summarize and interpret existing literature in their fields. They also identify knowledge gaps and narrow their topic s to more specific themes and research directions. Here the interests in social innovation and design methods are also represented. LESLEY MCKEE explores the concept of "craftsmen of democracy" from the political philosopher Hannah Arendt as a basis for developing design-led social innovation. Another related topic is Service Design, the management of which interests QIN HAN. She sees the opportunity to explore this new field of practice to develop much-needed theories about it. Similar to FAN XIA, MAREIKE GRAF and CARMEN MENZEL hope to identify the role of design method, particularly visualization, in aiding decision-making at the early stage of product development. Additionally, MITHRA ZAHEDI is working on the design model "environment for reflective collaboration" to facilitate the works of multidisciplinary teams. These investigation s reflect the continuous expansion of the subject matter of Design and the need for new knowledge to support it. Besides design methodology, design thinking has also been well studied but continues to excite interest. THIERRY LAGRANGE has practiced architecture for many years and plans to interpre t his own photo graphs, architectural drawings, and words to understand design thinking. Another specific theme is also found here. ZDRAVKO TRIVIC sees the potential of the healing power of "seductive" consumption space and aims to explore this potential.

PART 3 — EMERGING QUESTIONS

The authors examine the literature of their fields in more depth and gain a good grasp on various interrelated issues. They also develop their own stand or perspective and are able to judge and identify knowledge gaps and formulate research questions to fill these gaps. Here again we find socially-oriented research: LISA CRESSWELL sheds light on the role of design in dealing with complex problems such as counter-terror communication. CARMELA CUCUZZELLA proposes and examines a new model for assessing sustainable design based on the concept of prudence. STELLA BOESS shows an ongoing action research project for understanding students' learning experiences. Besides the practical and normative, in this section we also encounter reflective and critical investigations. SARAH BELKHAMSA appraises three different perspectives in the domain of design semiotics. ANNINA SCHNELLER scrutinizes, compares, and contrasts different approaches in Visual Rhetoric. DAG BOUTSEN reflects on the production and reception of architecture with the aim to explore the issue of trust in participatory design. KATHARINA BREDIES challenges the common notion of "design-for-use" and proposes an unusual alternative. Finally, two contributions examine design research itself: MICHEL DE BLOIS touches on fundamental issues in conceiving design research and CHRISTIAN WLFEL discusses the issues involved in selecting design research methods.

It would be wrong to claim that these papers encompass all the major themes of current design research, but they do represent some important ones including service and socially oriented design, design thinking and method development, management of multidisciplinary design teams, and design as meaning construction. None of these is trivial: each carries implications for research, education and practice.

SPECIAL ARTICLES

There are also two special articles by the distinguished design thinkers ALAIN FINDELI and KEITH RUSSEL. Both texts are based on presentations given by the authors at the conference. They raise the fundamental and yet unresolved issues of the basis for and purposes of Design Research. In a subtle but authoritative voice, they invite us not to shy away from difficult questions and challenge us to be serious design researchers.

Questions, Hypotheses & Conjectures is published with research students in mind; however, it is of interest to the entire design community. It contains not only current design research projects but also the debates, dialogical thinking and intellectual struggles involved in arriving at research questions. We wish you a very enjoyable read! We also invite you to join the Design Research Network (www.designresearchnetwork.org) and raise questions and comments on Questions, Hypotheses & Conjectures.

Editors Rosan Chow, Wolfgang Jonas, Gesche Joost

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