I agree Eirik. I am surprised, given the recent discussion of design education programs, that there has been little to no response to this topic. I suspect it is because the following statements are true, and many of the designers on this board do not find it as scary as you do, but rather find it appropriate. “Few undergraduate design students, especially those in single-discipline colleges of art in the USA, engage in original, disciplined inquiry intended to inform design decisions, nor do most learn how to read and apply research findings from other fields. … A small portion of American undergraduate design students eventually enroll in master’s programs, where the dominant educational model – borrowed from the studio arts – addresses the refinement of practice-oriented skills and portfolios.” In the interest in sparking discussion, I’d like to mention that I myself have witnessed many events where designers say ”research shows …” and have wondered if they think saying those magical words is simply a bullet proof way to win an argument. There have been times when I have doubted the existence or relevance of said research, and that makes me nervous about those other times when I trust such an assertion. One top-of-mind example is when I recently read the following words on these boards: “Studies show people go bananas for "FREE".” I do not usually disagree or doubt designers when they make these statements (especially something as self-evident as this), but I rarely if ever actually see the research or a reference, which I can say from first-hand knowledge would not fly in a PhD program. In this example, I would bet there are some caveats to users’ jumping on free things (e.g., if they think they might get SPAMed or compromise their privacy or download a virus, etc.). Perhaps a research informed education would reduce this practice. The article suggests the creation of a dependable research database. Providing a place for designers to ‘get’ and share their research would be great. Even better, I believe that applied-research is most valuable when it is conducted in context, and providing (some) designers with the chops to do so would be of great value to the field. Rather than the blanket "research shows..." statement, designers should more often say "I did research in this context on this question and and it shows..." This is of course difficult, and requires the progression of rapid design research methods. What are people's opinions on useful rapid (as in, more rapid than even one day of lab-tests) research? What do you use? Maybe a database of this is also necessary. As the authors conclude: “…it is also clear that development in this area will be slow without broader recognition that research matters to the future of the design professions and that the outcomes of design decisions have consequences in society.” It matters folks, and I think this community is as open to research as anyone. How do you use research and what is your advice for or argument against the authors of this article? __________________ Jesse S. Zolna, Ph.D.
________________________________ From: Eirik Midttun <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 6:20:12 AM Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] Doctoral study in design. Why the exclamation mark behind engineering? I find some of the things in "What Does the Field Think about Research?" rather scary. I don't live in the US so maybe it is better elsewhere. Anyway it has to change, or the discipline won't survive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=38981 ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [email protected] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [email protected] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
