What is Design Research? Interdisciplinary Perspectives
CfD Conversation Fall 2023–1 | September 29, 2023
Written by Julie Farkas
The Design Research Society’s biennial conference is coming to the United States for the first time in 2024. The College of Arts, Media, and Design (CAMD) at Northeastern University is hosting this international conference, with support from local partners such as the City of Boston Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics, Design Museum Everywhere, Harvard University Graduate School of Design, MIT Morningside Academy for Design, and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. As an introduction to the event and to the field of design research, the Center for Design hosted an open conversation with design researchers and members of the DRS 2024 committee.
Colin Gray and Paul Hekkert are DRS Executive Board Members. Gray is an Associate Professor in the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering at Indiana University Bloomington, and Hekkert is a Professor of Form Theory at TU Delft. Sara Lenzi is a DRS International Advisory Council Member and a Postdoctoral Researcher at TU Delft. Laura Forlano is a DRS Interim Chair and a Professor in Art + Design and Communication Studies at Northeastern University. Elizabeth Christoforetti is an Assistant Professor in Practice of Architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, which is a partner of DRS 2024. Ryan Bruggeman is a CAMD PhD Student at Northeastern University and Jules Sievert is an Interdisciplinary PhD Student at Northeastern University.
What is interdisciplinary design research?
“What do we mean when we say interdisciplinary research, when we think about design in conversation with the other disciplines?” — Michael Arnold Mages
The first half of the conversation focused on this question, as it is becoming more and more evident that designers are realizing the value of interacting with other areas. Each of the panelists shared their experiences in design research.
Sara Lenzi started the conversation by talking through her work in sound design. With a background in philosophy and music, Lenzi did not truly feel “at home” until meeting and working with the Design Research Society. To her, design research is the active and ongoing reflection of the impacts of your creations.
Laura Forlano came to design research from the social sciences because of the ability to work in a wide variety of modalities. She values the open and accessible yet still rigorous nature of design research. Over the course of her career, Forlano has tried to incorporate theories and ideas from the social sciences into the design field, and vice versa.
“What brought me to design research is really the ability to work in a wide variety of modalities. I’m really interested in the stories that we tell about technology in particular and how we can engage in both documenting what the narratives are, the dominant narratives out in society, as well as to challenge them through design engagements.” — Laura Forlano
Paul Hekkert strongly believes that you do not need to be a designer to do design research. Hekkert studied the psychology of aesthetics, which is what led him to the design field. He strives to understand how design impacts others, and works toward a continuous interaction between the design community and the outside world.
Elizabeth Christoforetti comes from the field of architecture. Design research, to Christoforetti, starts with practicing design. Problems and questions come up when working with clients that cannot be fully supported or answered, so those get sent on to the world of academia and prompt further research.
PhD students Jules Sievert and Ryan Bruggeman rounded out the interdisciplinary design research discussion. Sievert focuses on who gets to participate in design and research. Members of more marginalized communities need to be included in design and research processes, because otherwise, there is a wealth of knowledge and experience that is not being shared or accounted for. Bruggeman focuses on how to engage design in a world of ever-expanding disciplines and the development of AI. He notes the complexity of design research today, particularly regarding the need to be interdisciplinary in order to truly produce new ideas and products.
DRS 2024 Boston
Participating in conferences like DRS 2024 is a great opportunity to translate a researcher’s work from being in a studio to going out in the world. Several members of the DRS and conference committees were in attendance to share updates about the upcoming conference.
Colin Gray joined the discussion as a design researcher as well as a DRS 2024 Program Chair and DRS Executive Board Member. Gray aims to create a space for many kinds of design research to thrive.
“Considering the role of design within traditional design disciplines…but also disciplines that have taken on design as a primary epistemological lens is really, really important to understand and then figure out how we can support. And I see that the remit of the DRS is really to do that really expansive, transdisciplinary work around the notion of design.” — Colin Gray
So far in the planning of the conference, the committee has accepted theme tracks that represent many different approaches to conducting research. Those theme tracks are also accepting new forms of submissions, such as visual papers. Gray also emphasized the idea that even if a paper does not seem to fit any specific track, it can still be submitted to the open call. Overall, the conference’s committee is dedicated to being accessible and inclusive to all types of designers.
Rejoining the conversation, Paul Hekkert mentioned that going to conferences like DRS opens your eyes to other approaches to and impacts of design research that you might not regularly experience.
“I’ve been to these conferences. I’ve met musicians, I’ve met nurses, I’ve met sociologists, anthropologists, lawyers… Yeah, there’s a whole gang of people that are tangential to design practice that are involved in these conversations in really compelling and interesting ways. I think that’s one of the nicest highlights of this group.” — Michael Arnold Mages
Coming from different backgrounds likely leads to different approaches to design research. However, Hekkert believes it helps to have design skills in order to do design research. With his background in the social sciences and psychology, he had to learn design skills such as asking the right questions and manipulating the design artifact more subtly much later on than someone who started out with a design background. But overall, the panelists agree that a background in design is not required in order to conduct design research or take part in the conference. Additionally, a person’s status as a DRS member does not affect how their paper gets reviewed. DRS membership provides discounts on conference admission and other benefits, but otherwise, everything is reviewed fairly, regardless of membership status.
“There’s really no academic qualification necessary to submit a paper. You really just need to be doing a work of good quality that you can represent as a paper or an interesting proposal for a conversation or workshop.” — Michael Arnold Mages
But submitting a full paper is not the only way to participate in the conference. There will be workshops, conversations, local challenges call labs, a PhD event, special interest group meetups and more. Visit the DRS 2024 website to learn about the many ways to participate.
Interested in learning more? Watch the event recording:
CAMD Moderator
Michael Arnold Mages, Assistant Professor of Art + Design and Interim Director of the Center for Design at Northeastern University.
Panelists
Colin Gray, DRS Executive Board Member; Associate Professor, Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering, Indiana University Bloomington
Laura Forlano, DRS Interim Chair; Professor, College of Arts, Media and Design, Northeastern University; Distinguished Fellow, Burnes Center for Social Change, Northeastern University
Sara Lenzi, DRS International Advisory Council Member; Postdoctoral Researcher, TU Delft
Paul Hekkert, DRS Executive Board Member; Professor of Form Theory, TU Delft
Elizabeth Christoforetti, Assistant Professor in Practice of Architecture, Harvard Graduate School of Design
Jules Sievert, Interdisciplinary PhD Student and Creative Director at Nulawlab, Northeastern University
Ryan Bruggeman, CAMD PhD Student, Northeastern University
Join us! #CenterForDesign
️📩 centerfordesign@northeastern.edu
🔗 Linkedin 🔗Twitter 🔗Facebook 🔗Website🔗Newsletter
