Author ORCID Identifier
Boudewijn Boon: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8171-9110
Abhigyan Singh: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4984-9067
Frithjof E. Wegener: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8793-9042
Pieter Jan Stappers: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5351-4828
Abstract
Since its introduction, Research through Design (RtD) has taken on a wide variety of forms. Currently, there is a lack of clarity about what connects and separates different RtD approaches. Several attempts have been made to clarify these matters, often in the form of a top-down categorization. Here we start on a different path, one that is open for different points of view and grounded in the ongoing concerns and needs of RtD practitioners. Over a two-month period, we engaged a local research community in weekly discussions about RtD in their work. Thoughts and questions were posted on a dedicated wall-space, maintained, and clustered over the weeks. As a result, we identified 11 themes that indicate concerns among participants about RtD. We suggest the themes can help in articulating different RtD ‘styles’ and ‘genres’, and believe this should be a collaborative and bottom-up effort that crosses disciplinary and institutional boundaries.
Keywords
Research through Design, Practice-Based Research, Constructive Design Research, Design-Led Research
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2020.362
Citation
Boon, B., Baha, E., Singh, A., Wegener, F., Rozendaal, M., and Stappers, P. (2020) Grappling with Diversity in Research Through Design, in Boess, S., Cheung, M. and Cain, R. (eds.), Synergy - DRS International Conference 2020, 11-14 August, Held online. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2020.362
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Grappling with Diversity in Research Through Design
Since its introduction, Research through Design (RtD) has taken on a wide variety of forms. Currently, there is a lack of clarity about what connects and separates different RtD approaches. Several attempts have been made to clarify these matters, often in the form of a top-down categorization. Here we start on a different path, one that is open for different points of view and grounded in the ongoing concerns and needs of RtD practitioners. Over a two-month period, we engaged a local research community in weekly discussions about RtD in their work. Thoughts and questions were posted on a dedicated wall-space, maintained, and clustered over the weeks. As a result, we identified 11 themes that indicate concerns among participants about RtD. We suggest the themes can help in articulating different RtD ‘styles’ and ‘genres’, and believe this should be a collaborative and bottom-up effort that crosses disciplinary and institutional boundaries.