Abstract
Research-through-Design (RtD) continues to grapple with how prototypes can generate comparable design knowledge beyond stand-alone studies. This paper addresses that gap by studying how knowledge takes shape in constrained design settings, where limitations themselves become sources of insight. Using the case of affordable dental care in India, chosen for its material, spatial, and procedural limitations, the study shows how constraints can make tacit design understandings more visible. From this work, three categories of knowledge emerged: embodied negotiation of ergonomics, enacted hygiene, and modularity-for-resilience. These categories describe how designers learn through doing, maintaining, and adjusting within limitations. Rather than focusing on healthcare design, the study uses this case as a lens for understanding how situated constraints can strengthen RtD by generating knowledge categories that are both credible and relevant to comparable constrained contexts.
Keywords
Research-through-Design, Design Knowledge, Constrained Contexts, Prototyping
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.546
Citation
Kundal, A., and Mangwani, T. (2026) Constraints as knowledge amplifiers: Understanding how Research-Through-Design makes design knowledge visible, in Simeone, L., Gray, C. M., Verhoeven, A., de Götzen, A., Bakırlıoğlu, Y., Zohar, H., Stead, M., and Buwert, P. (eds.), DRS2026: Edinburgh, 8–12 June, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.546
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Included in
Constraints as knowledge amplifiers: Understanding how Research-Through-Design makes design knowledge visible
Research-through-Design (RtD) continues to grapple with how prototypes can generate comparable design knowledge beyond stand-alone studies. This paper addresses that gap by studying how knowledge takes shape in constrained design settings, where limitations themselves become sources of insight. Using the case of affordable dental care in India, chosen for its material, spatial, and procedural limitations, the study shows how constraints can make tacit design understandings more visible. From this work, three categories of knowledge emerged: embodied negotiation of ergonomics, enacted hygiene, and modularity-for-resilience. These categories describe how designers learn through doing, maintaining, and adjusting within limitations. Rather than focusing on healthcare design, the study uses this case as a lens for understanding how situated constraints can strengthen RtD by generating knowledge categories that are both credible and relevant to comparable constrained contexts.