Design Research Methodology: Introducing Evidence BASED Design

Abstract

Introduction          Design research is a comparatively new field of endeavour that appeared as the new design professions were incorporated into higher education institutions in the 1980s. Typically tertiary education institutions require research as a corporate objective and therefore design education required a research profile. Research practice existed in the scholarship of architecture, which has a long university tradition and is arguably the founding design based profession. Today design-based professions such as industrial design demonstrate surprisingly advanced research profiles’ considering the limited time design research has existed and the variety of relevant subject matter.          However the practice of design is fundamentally different to practice in existing professions and this has affected the development of design research. Industrial Design is a good example of a design profession that has confronted these differences and emerged with a research profile that is fundamentally sound. To better understand design research it is important to review the changing background and review some of the practice issues that impact on design research.