Abstract
Current debates on design research, and its relation to other research fields and scientific disciplines, refer back to a fundamental distinction introduced by Herb Simon (Simon, 1996 (1981)): Design and design research do not primarily focus on explaining the world as it is; they share with engineering a fundamental interest in focusing on the world as it could be. In parallel, we observe a growing interest in the science studies to interpret scientific research as a constructive and creative practice (Knorr Cetina, 1999; 2002), organized as experimental systems (Rheinberger, 2001). Design fiction is a new approach, which integrates these two perspectives, in order to develop a method toolbox for design research for a complex world (Bleecker, 2009; Wiedmer & Caviezel, 2009; Grand 2010).
Keywords
Epistemology, Science Studies, Design Fiction, Experiment
Citation
Grand, S., and Wiedmer, M. (2010) Design Fiction: A Method Toolbox for Design Research in a Complex World, in Durling, D., Bousbaci, R., Chen, L, Gauthier, P., Poldma, T., Roworth-Stokes, S. and Stolterman, E (eds.), Design and Complexity - DRS International Conference 2010, 7-9 July, Montreal, Canada. https://dl.designresearchsociety.org/drs-conference-papers/drs2010/researchpapers/47
Design Fiction: A Method Toolbox for Design Research in a Complex World
Current debates on design research, and its relation to other research fields and scientific disciplines, refer back to a fundamental distinction introduced by Herb Simon (Simon, 1996 (1981)): Design and design research do not primarily focus on explaining the world as it is; they share with engineering a fundamental interest in focusing on the world as it could be. In parallel, we observe a growing interest in the science studies to interpret scientific research as a constructive and creative practice (Knorr Cetina, 1999; 2002), organized as experimental systems (Rheinberger, 2001). Design fiction is a new approach, which integrates these two perspectives, in order to develop a method toolbox for design research for a complex world (Bleecker, 2009; Wiedmer & Caviezel, 2009; Grand 2010).