Pragmatism, design and public sector innovation: Reflections on action

Authors

Rodger Watson, University of Technology Sydney, Australia
Kees Dorst, University of Technology Sydney, Australia

Abstract

This reflective paper explores the intersection of Pragmatism, Design Research and Public Sector Innovation through the lens of a body of work undertaken at a public sector innovation, design research center between 2010-2018. This center drew explicitly on the work of Donald Schön and Charles Sanders Peirce in the development of its research methodology and practice. The paper includes an illustrative case study that demonstrates the application of Peirce’s model of Innovative Abduction, draws on recent interview data that demonstrates engagement with Deweyan Analysis of Reflective Thinking and reflects on the possibilities that may come from further engagement with the Pragmatist movement.

Keywords

pragmatism, public sector innovation

DOI

https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2022.778

Citation

Watson, R., and Dorst, K. (2022) Pragmatism, design and public sector innovation: Reflections on action, in Lockton, D., Lenzi, S., Hekkert, P., Oak, A., Sádaba, J., Lloyd, P. (eds.), DRS2022: Bilbao, 25 June - 3 July, Bilbao, Spain. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2022.778

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Conference Track

Research Paper