Abstract
This article concerns an alternative and relatively simple model of the design process that can be used as a conceptual tool for designing a design process. Three different examples are used to test and show the model’s relevance. This model takes a quite different turn on the process: instead of describing the process as if it would start from a problem, it suggests that it is actually the solutions that are actively used when designing. These possible solutions are referred to as the ‘design space’. The article also provides a methodological framework for understanding the different approaches with which methods can be used. Here the concepts ‘explorative’ and ‘experimental’ are essential. Finally some aspects of ‘constraints’ are discussed in relation to the design space. The model can be used for refl ecting on as well as designing design processes in education, in research and commercially.
Keywords
Design process, design methodology, design tools, design education, design space, interdisciplinarity.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/nordes.2005.048
Citation
Westerlund, B.(2005) Design space conceptual tool – grasping the design process, in Binder, T., Redström, J. (eds.), Nordes 2005: In the making, 29-31 May, Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen, Denmark. https://doi.org/10.21606/nordes.2005.048
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Design space conceptual tool – grasping the design process
This article concerns an alternative and relatively simple model of the design process that can be used as a conceptual tool for designing a design process. Three different examples are used to test and show the model’s relevance. This model takes a quite different turn on the process: instead of describing the process as if it would start from a problem, it suggests that it is actually the solutions that are actively used when designing. These possible solutions are referred to as the ‘design space’. The article also provides a methodological framework for understanding the different approaches with which methods can be used. Here the concepts ‘explorative’ and ‘experimental’ are essential. Finally some aspects of ‘constraints’ are discussed in relation to the design space. The model can be used for refl ecting on as well as designing design processes in education, in research and commercially.