Discussions & Movements in Design Research A systems approach to practice research in design

Birger Sevaldson's paper treats design research as a dynamic, emergent field made up of interrelated and sometimes contradictory concepts and positions, and surveys the discussions and movements shaping it as it matures into a genuine mode of knowledge production. He argues that design research is moving toward greater complexity, both in the issues it takes on and the approaches it uses, and that 'research by design' is becoming increasingly central. This approach favours insider perspectives, a generative way of working across rich, multiple layers connected to real-life contexts, producing new, communicable knowledge that can only be reached from within design practice itself. The paper discusses a spectrum of possible relationships between design practice and reflection, from distant, outsider-observed research to participatory, insider-led research where the designer-researcher uses their own practice as the means of investigation, and calls for critically combining multiple perspectives, methods and media. Published in Form Akademisk, 3(1), 8 to 35. Credits: Sevaldson, B. (2010). Discussions & Movements in Design Research A systems approach to practice research in design. Form Akademisk, 3(1), 8–35. http://doi.org/10.7577/formakademisk.137