Design Research Now

Essay Strategies of Design Research: Productive Science and Rhetorical Inquiry (S. 55-56)

'We make subject matters to ?t the examination and resolution of problems, and the solution of problems brings to our attention further consequent problems, which frequently require the setting up and examination of new ?elds.'
Richard McKeon, 'The Uses of Rhetoric in a Technological Age' [01]

Introduction

Thehistory of design is a history of evolvingproblems. The earliest problems were those of practice and production, and the solution of those problems led to further problems of practice and production, as well as problems of philosophy and theory that were consequent upon the existence of new products. In the ancient world, therewas littleneedtodistinguishdesignfromthemakingofproducts, because thecraftsperson and the master-builder carried within themselves both the ability to conceive products and the ability to embody their conceptions in tangible form.

Technical treatises were written to solve the problem of education, passing on accumulated knowledge of practice and production to individuals whowould continue the work of making. Even before such treatises were written, however, there were already theoretical and philosophical speculations on the nature of products and their effects on human life. Those speculations were typically embedded in treatises on other subjects and problems, but they provided the distant foundations for what is now regarded as the ?eld of design and design research.

They characterised the subjectmatter of human-made products or the arti?cial, developed the fundamental strategies of inquiry into the nature of products andmaking, and explored possible principles of making and use that would later turn design from a trade practice into a domain ofmany professions and, subsequently, into a ?eld of research encompassing history, criticism and theory, supported by empirical research and further philosophic speculation. This ?eld did not emerge in recognisable formuntil the 20th century, when the problems of design and technology became so complex that their resolution required new thinking. However, the threads of design research emergedmuch earlier.

After the Industrial Revolution,when the work of designwas effectively distinguished fromthemanner of production, the cumulative effect ofmassproductionandproducts on human life gained increasing attention. One line of inquiry led into economics, political theory and social philosophy, supportedby the diverse emerging social sciences.

Another led into the natural sciences, ?rst deepening the knowledge of natural laws and the ability tomanipulate nature innewproducts, and then, by the 20th century, beginning to assess the effects of products on the environment, leading to questions about the sustainability of our cultural commitment to mass production and consumption. Finally, there was a third line of inquiry, directed toward design itself, leading to the establishment of a new ?eld of inquiry, the?eld of design practice and design research.