Abstract
Designers are becoming involved in working to address complex challenges and this has led some to argue that decision-making in design should be based on evidence and knowledge gained through research. However, while natural sciences aim to describe, explain and predict observable phenomena, design research often has the additional aim to be useful and to contribute to improving or interacting with situations. Consequently the knowledge brought together in design research must often satisfy the condition of generativity as well as generality, meaning that design research should have the additional capacity to generate creative reasoning and innovative design.In this conversation we propose a discussion around the role of using argumentation theory in design research and design pedagogy. The conversation is intended to provide an opportunity to share concrete tools and approaches to bridging the gap between theory and practice in design research and design pedagogy.
Keywords
Argumentation Theory; Dialogue; Design Research; Design Pedagogy
Citation
Feast, L., Boess, S., and van der Waarde, K. (2016) Uses of Argumentation Theory and Dialogic Methods in the Design Research Process, in Lloyd, P. and Bohemia, E. (eds.), Future Focused Thinking - DRS International Conference 2016, 27 - 30 June, Brighton, United Kingdom. https://dl.designresearchsociety.org/drs-conference-papers/drs2016/conversations/9
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Uses of Argumentation Theory and Dialogic Methods in the Design Research Process
Designers are becoming involved in working to address complex challenges and this has led some to argue that decision-making in design should be based on evidence and knowledge gained through research. However, while natural sciences aim to describe, explain and predict observable phenomena, design research often has the additional aim to be useful and to contribute to improving or interacting with situations. Consequently the knowledge brought together in design research must often satisfy the condition of generativity as well as generality, meaning that design research should have the additional capacity to generate creative reasoning and innovative design.In this conversation we propose a discussion around the role of using argumentation theory in design research and design pedagogy. The conversation is intended to provide an opportunity to share concrete tools and approaches to bridging the gap between theory and practice in design research and design pedagogy.