Abstract
Clients in industry who come from disciplines other than design often experience deep frustration when working with or hiring industrial designers because they are not aware of the diversity in the field. Their frustration is understandable because designers themselves do not explain the diversity well and present themselves as generalists who can solve any problem. The real issue is that all designers cannot solve any problem and the word “research” has become as vague as the word “design”. In addition, some designers are wonderfully self-expressive and produce passionate designs and other designers produce wonderfully analytical solutions to complex problems. But designers are not always honest about their abilities and believe they can “do it all”. While industry needs to educate themselves about the diversity in the field of design and the continuum of designers between the arts and sciences, the designers need to stop presenting themselves as the problem solvers for projects that require research, if they do not have traditional research training. While design generalists have a refreshing and useful “birds eye view” of the design process, this philosophy can damage the reputation and integrity of the profession, if the work is superficial in its solution. The clients need to ask the right questions of the designer, the designers need to ask the hard questions of the clients, and students thinking of entering a particular design school need to ask questions about design program philosophies and methods. Industry in general, and other disciplines in the university, need to be informed of the diversity in our field and that it is a good thing when the right designer is chosen. The designers in our profession need to be able to say they are not the right person for the job, if they are not, and recommend a designer fit for the particular project. This integrity will help to ensure the growing respect for our profession.
Citation
Justice, L. (2002) The importance of explaining industrial design diversity, in Durling, D. and Shackleton, J. (eds.), Common Ground - DRS International Conference 2002, 5-7 September, London, United Kingdom. https://dl.designresearchsociety.org/drs-conference-papers/drs2002/researchpapers/38
The importance of explaining industrial design diversity
Clients in industry who come from disciplines other than design often experience deep frustration when working with or hiring industrial designers because they are not aware of the diversity in the field. Their frustration is understandable because designers themselves do not explain the diversity well and present themselves as generalists who can solve any problem. The real issue is that all designers cannot solve any problem and the word “research” has become as vague as the word “design”. In addition, some designers are wonderfully self-expressive and produce passionate designs and other designers produce wonderfully analytical solutions to complex problems. But designers are not always honest about their abilities and believe they can “do it all”. While industry needs to educate themselves about the diversity in the field of design and the continuum of designers between the arts and sciences, the designers need to stop presenting themselves as the problem solvers for projects that require research, if they do not have traditional research training. While design generalists have a refreshing and useful “birds eye view” of the design process, this philosophy can damage the reputation and integrity of the profession, if the work is superficial in its solution. The clients need to ask the right questions of the designer, the designers need to ask the hard questions of the clients, and students thinking of entering a particular design school need to ask questions about design program philosophies and methods. Industry in general, and other disciplines in the university, need to be informed of the diversity in our field and that it is a good thing when the right designer is chosen. The designers in our profession need to be able to say they are not the right person for the job, if they are not, and recommend a designer fit for the particular project. This integrity will help to ensure the growing respect for our profession.