Designed inquiry : the significance of research education for industrial designers
Abby Mellick Lopes · 2008
Research does not sit comfortably within industrial design practice in either an educational or professional context. This is largely due to the conventions of the client-designer relationship and the constraints of design delivery and cost. There is however an increasing interest in design research capability, particularly in ethnographic research as the experience of the product or service becomes a focal concern [1]. Methods of social inquiry offer a wealth of possibilities for designers to learn more about the global, social and environmental contexts of their work. This paper explores the significance of research education in training industrial designers capable of responsive, realistic and forethoughtful problem solving in increasingly complex socio-cultural and environmental contexts. It argues that the skills supported and extended by research education are invaluable in training designers able to think and design independently.