Constructing a Design Space from a Collection of Design Examples

Abstract

Previous design cases and examples are important resources in design, most famously conceptualized by Donald Schön as the designer’s repertoire. We propose a way of approaching and gathering such examples, and introduce a tool for constructing and analyzing the design spaces these collections form. Each example is deconstructed in terms of aspects of concern and options for how these aspects can be implemented. The example is then represented within a design space schema comprising aspect-option sets. This makes it possible to conceptualize a design space of aspect-option sets reflecting the focal collection, and to position individual examples within that design space. We demonstrate our approach through an analysis of 54 media architecture installations listed on the Media Architecture Biennale award nomination lists from 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018. We discuss how this approach compares to similar approaches, and detail the knowledge building process that it enables, which includes two main elements: 1) developing a language to describe the examples in terms of the aspect-option sets; and 2) exploring the design space through filtering the design space.