Design methods: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 04:08, 31 December 2018

Revision as of 15:57, 8 February 2019

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The movement developed through further conferences on new design methods in the UK and USA in the 1960s.<ref>Gregory, S. A. (ed.) ''The Design Method''. Butterworth, UK.</ref><ref>Broadbent, G. and A. Ward (eds) (1969) ''Design Methods in Architecture'', Lund Humphries, UK</ref><ref>Moore, G. T. (ed.) (1970) ''Emerging Methods in Environmental Design and Planning'', MIT Press, USA.</ref> The first books on rational design methods,<ref>Asimow, M. (1962) ''Introduction to Design'', Prentice-Hall, USA.</ref><ref>Alexander, C. (1964) ''Notes on the Synthesis of Form'', Harvard University Press, USA.</ref><ref>Archer, L. B. (1965) ''Systematic Method for Designers'', The Design Council, UK</ref> and on creative methods<ref>Gordon, W. J. (1961) ''Synectics'', Harper & Row, USA.</ref><ref>Osborn, A. F. (1963) ''Applied Imagination: Principles and Procedures of Creative Thinking'', Scribener's Sons, USA.</ref> also appeared in this period.

New approaches to design were developing at the same time in Germany, notably at the [[Ulm School of Design]] (Hochschule für Gestaltung–HfG Ulm) (1953–1968) under the leadership of [[Tomás Maldonado]]. Design teaching at Ulm integrated design with science (including social sciences) and introduced new fields of study such as [[cybernetics]], [[systems theory]] and [[semiotics]] into design education.<ref>Krampen, M. and G. Hörman (2003) ''The Ulm School of Design'', Ernst & Sohn, Germany. p.85</ref> [[L. Bruce Archer|Bruce Archer]] also taught at Ulm, and another influential teacher was [[Horst Rittel]].<ref> Rith, C and Dubberly, H, "Why Horst W J Rittel Matters", ''Design Issues'', '''23''', 72–91</ref> In 1963 Rittel moved to the School of Architecture at the [[University of California, Berkeley]], where he helped found the Design Methods Group, a society focused on developing and promoting new methods especially in architecture and planning.

At the end of the 1960s two influential, but quite different works were published: [[Herbert A. Simon]]'s ''The Sciences of the Artificial'' and [[John Christopher Jones|J. Christopher Jones]]'s ''Design Methods''.<ref>Simon, H. A. (1969) ''The Sciences of the Artificial'', MIT Press, USA.</ref><ref>Jones, J. C. (1970) ''Design Methods: Seeds of Human Futures'', Wiley, UK</ref> Simon proposed the "science of design" as "a body of intellectually tough, analytic, partly formalizable, partly empirical, teachable doctrine about the design process", whereas Jones catalogued a variety of approaches to design, both rational and creative, within a context of a broad, futures creating, systems view of design.

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[[Nigel Cross]] outlined eight stages in a process of engineering product design, each with an associated method: Identifying Opportunities - User Scenarios; Clarifying Objectives - Objectives Tree; Establishing Functions - Function Analysis; Setting Requirements - Performance Specification; Determining Characteristics - Quality Function Deployment; Generating Alternatives - Morphological Chart; Evaluating Alternatives - Weighted Objectives; Improving Details - Value Engineering.<ref>Cross, N. (2008) ''Engineering Design Methods: Strategies for Product Design''. Wiley, UK.</ref>

Many design methods still currently in use originated in the design methods movement of the 1960s and 70s, adapted to modern design practices. Recent developments have seen the introduction of more qualitative techniques, including ethnographic methods such as [[cultural probe|cultural probes]]s and situated methods.<ref>Simonsen, J. et al. (2014) ''Situated Design Methods''. MIT Press, USA.</ref>

==Emergence of design research and design studies==

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Several pioneers of design methods developed their work in association with industry. The [[Ulm School of Design|Ulm school]] established a significant partnership with the German consumer products company [[Braun]] through their designer [[Dieter Rams]]. [[John Christopher Jones|J. Christopher Jones]] began his approach to systematic design as an ergonomist at the electrical engineering company [[Associated Electrical Industries|AEI]]. [[L. Bruce Archer]] developed his systematic approach in projects for medical equipment for the UK National Health Service.

In the USA, designer [[Henry Dreyfuss]] had a profound impact on the practice of industrial design by developing systematic processes and promoting the use of [[anthropometrics]], [[ergonomics]] and [[human factors]] in design, including through his 1955 book 'Designing for People'.<ref> Dreyfuss, Henry. ''Designing for People''. Allworth Press; 2003. {{ISBN|1-58115-312-0}}</ref> Another successful designer, [[Jay Doblin]], was also influential on the theory and practice of design as a systematic process.<ref>https://www.doblin.com/dist/images/uploads/A-Short-Grandiose-Theory-of-Design-J.-Doblin.pdf</ref>

Much of current design practice has been influenced and guided by design methods. For example, the influential [[IDEO]] consultancy uses design methods extensively in its 'Design Kit' and 'Method Cards'.<ref>http://www.designkit.org//resources/1</ref><ref> https://www.ideo.com/post/method-cards</ref> Increasingly, the intersections of design methods with business and government through the application of [[design thinking]] have been championed by numerous consultancies within the design profession. Wide influence has also come through [[Christopher Alexander]]'s [[pattern language]] method,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Alexander |display-authors=et al. |first1=Christopher |title=A Pattern Language |date=1977 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-501919-9}}</ref> originally developed for architectural and urban design, which has been adopted in [[software design patterns|software design]], [[interaction design pattern|interaction design]], [[Pedagogical patterns|pedagogical design]] and other domains.

==See also==