Practice-based Design Research Research Articles

Uncertainties as Generative Resources in Research through Design: Three Dynamics for Moving in a Design Space

In HCI and design research, it has recently been suggested that, instead of risks and threats, uncertainties can be generative resources. This aligns particularly well with practice-based design research and research through design (RtD), where uncertainties are pervasive and unavoidable due to the approach's interest in open-ended problems, contexts under transformation, and unknown futures. Building on the idea that uncertainties drive design activity, we describe the design process as framing acts where a designer-researcher moves along perceived uncertainties. We identify three dynamics for a generative mode of working with uncertainties that can make designers aware of uncertainties, circle in towards those that appear essential while seeking to avoid others, and stay with those that offer new perspectives. We exemplify these dynamics by drawing from our experiences from three RtD projects and highlight this viewpoint's value in providing new reflective tools for designer-researchers.

Counterfactual and alternative histories as design practice

The version of design that was shaped and perfected during the 20th Century played a huge role in the making of the modern (global northern) world. Whilst design’s potential as a contributor to the making of worlds is clear, its methods, metrics and purposes have led to a world that is increasingly revealed as fragile, broken and unsustainable. In other words, design today is complicit in the breaking of the world – this essay describes a practice-based design research approach to the making of other worlds. Borrowing from the literary approaches of counterfactual and alternative histories and imaginative fiction, it aims to facilitate the development of new approaches to design, informed through alternative ideologies, methods and motivations. 
 The counterfactual approach allows us to imagine other ways to be, in this case through the application of alternative value systems, a non-additive approach to technology and a removal of the constraints imposed by history. The approach can be summed up as follows: 
 
 Definition of the theme followed by a broad mapping of its related systems.
 The creation of a counterfactual timeline based on a different outcome of one or more of the events identified on the real timeline.
 The design of things along the new timeline: hypothetical products, advertising campaigns, images, texts – evidence of the new value system in action.
 
 The most vital use of counterfactuals in design is to allow different voices to emerge that were silenced by the dominant, hegemonic or “standard” narrative(s). As we argue in this essay, illustrated with examples from past and current student projects, alternative histories can open up valuable future paths and create space for rich new imaginaries to flourish.

INTEGRATING LIGHT ELEMENTS IN FASHION: PRACTICE-BASED DESIGN APPROACH

In history, the relationship between fashion and technology has influenced the ever-changing silhouettes of the body, the quality of materials used to construct these silhouettes, and the colors giving liveliness to the material. Today, influenced by the digital revolution and innovation in advanced materials, the fashion industry benefits from the increasing possibilities of technology to develop alternative functions even to the most conventional dress forms, such as wedding gowns. This integration, which necessitates the contribution of different know-how and expertise, also provides a creative platform for developing interdisciplinary, practice-based design research and applications. In this study, an innovative wedding dress using light as a design element was produced with the joint contribution of designers and engineers based in Izmir, considered the capital of bridalwear in Turkey. This project, which considers light as a new design element that increases the expressive power of the dress, aims to offer an alternative to both the wedding dress category and the existing examples incorporating light technologies. In accordance with the main framework, research questions, and project design concept, the study conducts a literature review examining current design examples using different light technologies (LED, optical fibers, etc.). Following this, the stages of design, sample development and production processes are presented with relevant visuals. It is believed that this study, whose research, design development, and production processes are shared in detail, will set an example for future interdisciplinary projects.

Urban experiments exhibited: Exploring practice-based design research and agency in urban space

This article explores the methodological considerations regarding the organization of a site-specific exhibition in urban space and the design research experiments that may be part of such an exhibition. The aim is to encourage design research as ‘exhibition’ and to propose a format that allows theory to enter the exhibition programme for the purpose of aligning exhibition contributions with theoretical contributions. Through the proposed analytical approach, we offer a method and a model to analyse interventions in public space in relation to agency and the participatory agenda for humans and non-humans. The main contribution is an exploration of the specificalities of curating an exhibition in urban space as a distinct practice-based design research project, where programme, research questions and experiments create knowledge on scaling agency in regard to temporality, citizenship and the value of urban space.

Scalar trajectories in design: The case of DIY cloth face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

The article examines an artefact of everyday design – the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) cloth face mask employed against respiratory infections – to interrogate scale and scalar relationships. This lens reveals new perspectives on how practice-based design research can mobilize scale in more nuanced ways. The authors propose that DIY face masks, as artefacts of mundane design engagements both with material (cloth and thread) and with sharing of knowledge (about design, craft and practice), globally and within local networks and communities, direct our attention to scale as a matter of relations, engagements and emergent trajectories. Through empirically led exploration combined with approaching making as sensemaking, the article highlights the multiplicity of design artefacts emerging in DIY mask design spanning several scales and introduces the notion of scalar trajectories across multiple design engagements.

Digital Hybridisation in Adaptive Textiles for Public Space

Over recent years, many architectural and urban surfaces interact with the environment like a changing skin, adaptable to environmental stimuli. The textile technology appears to be the most suitable to meet the requirement of adaptability to the environment because it can produce changes in shape and colour. Today, this is a possible thanks to textile systems and fibres that are increasingly hi-tech and smart. To make these adaptable systems is a fundamental role in digital technologies and is an important a multidisciplinary approach in every design phase. This article interweaves some of the developments and applications of textiles in urban space design, exploring the possible applications of emerging technology in architectural and urban design. This analysis aims to explore the intersection between the culture, design and technology of textile systems, as well as the role of parametric design and embedded systems in urban space design and transformation. The aim of this article is to spread knowledge on adaptable textile systems as materials for architecture and to do so through practice-based design research. The study frames the contemporary design explorations, in which digital design tools and material expression are major placeholders, with a focus on surface shapes and design experiments exploring the expressiveness of light, colour and movement as design materials. The article reflects on the role of digital design applied to textile systems for urban space as a possible tool aiming at enhancing existing space by surface prototyping.

Tensions in transparent urban AI: designing a smart electric vehicle charge point

The increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) by public actors has led to a push for more transparency. Previous research has conceptualized AI transparency as knowledge that empowers citizens and experts to make informed choices about the use and governance of AI. Conversely, in this paper, we critically examine if transparency-as-knowledge is an appropriate concept for a public realm where private interests intersect with democratic concerns. We conduct a practice-based design research study in which we prototype and evaluate a transparent smart electric vehicle charge point, and investigate experts’ and citizens’ understanding of AI transparency. We find that citizens experience transparency as burdensome; experts hope transparency ensures acceptance, while citizens are mostly indifferent to AI; and with absent means of control, citizens question transparency’s relevance. The tensions we identify suggest transparency cannot be reduced to a product feature, but should be seen as a mediator of debate between experts and citizens.

Icon metaphor design based on ideographic Chinese character-creation

Icons, as core morphemes of interface design, have relatively standardised visual style definitions. However, little is known about the related metaphorical design method from the academic and industrial standpoints. We conducted comparisons based on Chinese character-creation and examined radical (root) forms and rules based on mainstream metaphorical designs, with a focus on the Airstar Bank icon. We adopted a practice-based design research method to continue to explore and evaluate the icon metaphor design method. We found similar approaches in icon metaphor design and ideographic Chinese character-creation. We further explored three icon metaphor design methods based on the ideographic design methods used for Chinese characters, including the single-body, variant, and compound-body modelling methods. An analysis of the Airstar Bank icon exemplifies an efficient, standardised icon morpheme, based on Chinese character-creation, which provides practical insight into systematic icon metaphor design.

Microalgae as Future Superfoods: Fostering Adoption through Practice-Based Design Research

Consumers’ eating habits are gradually changing. In the next few decades, this shift will not be solely dictated by individuals’ decisions but by the need to feed an ever-increasing population in the face of global resources’ impoverishment. Novel superfoods rich in nutrients and produced with sustainable methods, including microalgae, maybe a solution. However, their unusual aspect, the palatability, and the lack of knowledge by most people could be obstacles to adoption. This study aims at encouraging the use of microalgae as food, highlighting the importance that design plays in the transition towards more sustainable production and consumption patterns. Through practice-based design research, characterized by empirical experiments, a survey, an engaging workshop, and the development of a fully-functional open-source product, the authors conceptualize a theoretical framework within which similar product-service systems could thrive. This real-world experimentation is of interest for academics, professionals, makers in the field of design, etc. It suggests that multidisciplinarity, education, and replicability are the keys to addressing this topic and paves the way for further technical and humanistic research.

Design Collaboration and Exaptation in a Habitat Restoration Project

This paper reports on a collaborative, practice-based design research project focused on habitat restoration. An architect, a conservation biologist, and a digital designer worked together to develop an artificial habitat structure for an urban nature reserve in Canberra, Australia. Through a process of reflective analysis, we characterize this collaboration as a productive alliance of diverse skills and divergent perspectives that required responsiveness, improvisation, and a willingness to work outside disciplinary norms. We observe the importance of divergent but overlapping frames within the collaboration and design outcomes, which appropriated resources across contexts to serve multiple functions. In response, we propose a conceptual frame that draws on the concept of exaptation—an evolutionary process in which existing forms acquire new adaptive functions—to account for this tendency. We argue that an exaptive perspective has value beyond this case study, offering a useful way to reframe contemporary design expertise and authorship while also enabling us to better address a more-than-human world.

Designerly Research Methods and Researcherly Design Methods

This paper builds on the complementary identities distinguished by Joyce Yee of a ‘researcherly designer’ as a designer trained in research and a ’designerly researcher’ as its counterpart: a researcher trained in design (Yee, 2017). Joyce reflects that adopting these two roles informs her practice allowing her to select “the right research tools for different purposes”. Here, I extend and examine this duality paying close attention to the methods used in these two professional practices. I argue that ‘the same’ techniques, tools, and methods are used by individuals when they engage in design activity and when they ‘change hats’ to engage in research activity. Whilst it is certainly true that individuals integrate and blend these activities within the same project, I make the argument that how they use these methods can be clearly distinguished by the purposes for which they use them. Individuals who are in the position to execute roles as different as designers and researchers are ‘ambidextrous’ and they cultivate creative synergies between these worlds. However, switching membership between such different communities is not without its challenges (Gold, 2007). The paper addresses the opportunities, risks, and ethical tensions that come from ‘changing hats’ and it draws from earlier work on the creative adaptation of design methods for cross- disciplinary research (Sosa & Grocott, 2020). The paper concludes with recommendations and generative questions for those who embark on the advanced practices of design and research.
 ReferencesGold, R. (2007). The plenitude: Creativity, innovation, and making stuff: Mit Press.Sosa, R., & Grocott, L. (2020). The creative translation of design methods into social research contexts.In H. Kara & S. Khoo (Eds.), Researching in the Age of COVID-19 Vol 3: Volume III: Creativity and Ethics(Vol. 3, pp. 9-19). Bristol, UK: Policy Press.Yee, J. (2017). The researcherly designer/the designerly researcher. In L. Vaughan (Ed.),Practice-based Design Research (pp. 155). London: Bloomsbury Academic.

Design prototyping as a translational tool for medical device commercialization

Translational design is an increasingly important objective for universities as research institutions are seeking to play a more active role in the commercialization of fundamental medical research. Practice-based designers working within these academic contexts have a skill set that positions them to make a contribution to translating fundamental research into real-world applications. Real world applications of research that are informed by the needs of end-users and actioned through the creation of medical device prototypes. The translational designer’s toolkit includes a range of methodologies, frameworks, procedures and processes to identify problems, conceptualize ideas and create functional prototypes. Progressing research towards commercialization through prototyping is one of the most important skills leveraged by translational design researchers. This article details two case studies of practice-based design research within a large Australian university. It discusses the role of design prototyping as a key part of a lean and integrated development process that relies on accumulative rounds of iteration and interdisciplinary collaboration mediated through artefacts. Design prototyping is used within these projects to bring ideas to life and enable more effective communication between diverse stakeholder groups spanning across academia and industry, and across the boundaries of research and application. This article unpacks the key role of prototyping as a translational tool to iteratively test, refine and conceptually verify ideas, while additionally providing boundary objects for effective communication. This discussion addresses the benefits and limitations of prototyping as a translational tool, including the ability of prototyping to save time and development costs, explore constraints and trade-offs, and communicate with industry partners and end-users through tactile objects and/or real experiences. Design prototyping is an efficient and effective process that embraces failure in early stages of development, where the consequences are limited and the benefit substantial. The article explores how prototyping can provide the backbone to industrial design researchers working in translational contexts to drive development to real-world application and to effectively engage with research end-users.

Politics of Participation in Design Research: Learning from Participatory Art

In design research, critique has recently been voiced against the multiple ways the notion of participation is understood and practiced. Studies of performativity and performance art have been used to account for this methodological multiplicity. However, in this article, we argue that participation still has much to offer design research as a foundational concept, but that a more nuanced understanding is required. Further, we offer such an understanding by presenting three theories and methodologies from participatory art. The value of participatory art for design research will then be exemplified by a practice-based design research project exploring forms of patient democracy.

Passive house vs. passive design: sociotechnical issues in a practice-based design research project for a low-energy house

ABSTRACT Building performance simulation tools such as the Passive House Planning Package (PHPP) can be invaluable for improving energy-efficiency in housing design. However, achieving improved energy performance is also a sociotechnical issue, and how this is dealt with during the architectural design process seems less well studied. This collaborative design research project for a low-energy prefab house with an industry partner, a manufacturer of Structural Insulated Panels (SIP), is used as a case study to show that it is possible to achieve high energy performance while addressing specific socio-technical concerns within an Australian volume homebuilding market. A key issue that emerged in this project was the perceived tension between passive design expectations in Australia and those promoted through the Passive House software tool.

A study of practice based design research models from knowledge integration perspective

The transformation of China's design innovation industry has highlighted the importance of design research. The design research process in practice can be regarded as the process of knowledge production. The design 3.0 mode based on knowledge production MODE2 has been shown in the Chinese design innovation industry. On this cognition, this paper establishes a map with two dimensions of how knowledge integration occurs in practice based design research, which are the design knowledge transfer and contextual transformation of design knowledge. We use this map to carry out the analysis of design research cases. Through the analysis, we define four typical practice based design research models from the viewpoint of knowledge integration. This method and the proposed model can provide a theoretical basis and a path for better management design research projects.

Design strategies for exploring and bridging: Intersections of everyday life and decision-making for sustainability

Transitions of unsustainable everyday practices into more sustainable ones require new approaches to explore possible futures and encourage change. Trying new practices and experiencing alternative configurations of socio-material assemblages can increase reflexivity as well as assist in exploring potential futures. Design can assist in co-creating possible futures and bridging discussions about the preferred strategies to reach them. If sustainability is defined as an on-going process calling for dialogue, there could be potentials for using practice-based design research, and in particular co-design approaches, at the intersections of these dialogues. By analysing methods for reflexivity and collaboration in two design research projects within sustainable mobility, we here suggest design strategies for prototyping change at an individual level and communicating the experiences of such change to people with power to trigger and direct change. This may be particularly useful for addressing sustainability which both requires dealing with complex problems and extensive collaboration.

The para-disciplinary role of Design transforming innovation in organisations

The research addresses the role of Design creating value at the intersections of disciplines in organisations. It presents a revision to the discourse on the nature of and relationship between Design and other disciplines.
 This paper advocates a new para-disciplinary term for the post-disciplinary state of Design in its contemporary practices, acting as the ‘inter-discipline’ within organisations that are intent on the strategic development of their innovation capacity and potential. The work builds on a synthesis of findings from a longitudinal range of practice-based design research projects undertaken across industry and the third sector over the last four years. Case studies of these projects demonstrate that the involvement of Design has resulted in successive levels of influence leading to the radical transformation of the organisations’ innovation strategies. The implication for the generic aspect of these findings are discussed in terms of inter-disciplinary discourses.

Hybrid zero waste design practices. Zero waste pattern cutting for composite garment weaving and its implications

This practice-based design research explores methods of eliminating textile waste through utilising zero waste pattern cutting to expand the outcomes possible through composite garment weaving and ...

Practice - Based Research in Digital Arts: A Case Study of Wat Phumin, Nan Province, Thailand

Thai mural paintings have played a significant role in Thai society since the Sukhothai kingdom period (1238 -1438 AD) until present. Wattana Boonjub (2009) points out that Mural painting were used for teaching the Thai people in the past. Throughout history, temples have become a crucial part of Thai' lives; for example, Wat Phumin in Nan province. Wat Phumin has exceptional architecture, beautiful visual presentations of Buddhist storytelling on the walls which depict scenes from the Buddhist Jataka tales, and scenes of everyday life in Nan.These unique characteristics have attracted many visitors to this temple over the years. In addition, when those interested visit Wat Phumin, they experience this temple as a Museum.In fact, Loic Tallon et al. (2008) suggests that the museum experience provides an appropriate situation for learning history in an unconventional setting. As a result, previous research titled “Visual research practices on Thai Lanna mural painting: A case study of Wat Phumin, Nan province” was presented at The 4th International Conference for Asia Pacific Arts Studies (ICAPAS 2016). The results indicated that the information concerning the Lanna mural paintings inside the temples was overwhelming. However, there are no directions facilitating Thai and foreign visitors in viewing and understanding at the first episode of storytelling on Lanna mural paintings inside Wat Phumin. Therefore, this research is the result of finding a solution to facilitating visitors in viewing Buddhist Jataka tales through digital arts and digital technology (such as responsive web design, QR codes, etc.) with practice-based design research.

Reviewing Practice-Based Design Research—The Pursuit of a Disciplinary Destination

Bloomsbury Publishing describes Practice-Based Design Research as “a companion to master’s and PhD programs in design research through practice.” But the companionship offered is one where many conflicting perspectives, presented as replicable methods, are uncomfortably woven into a tradition that has often found its strength in isolated moments of genius. This volume includes chapters that move design toward the synthesis of theory and artifact. Even so, core claims fall short on many points, especially when authors rush to find solutions without support from evidence. These inconsistencies seem to reflect external demands, which the authors suggest are not impossible to overcome.