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Lorraine
Justice
Georgia Institute of Technology
From
an arts and crafts based design curriculum to a research based design curriculum
he
use of research in the practice of industrial design warrants the instruction
of research throughout the design curriculum in universities. Research in
the field of industrial design will help to build the knowledge base that
is needed for future designers to draw from. But the shift from an arts
and crafts based curriculum to a research curriculum is not without problems.
Dichotomous faculty philosophies still exist, even in the research institutions,
and can thwart support for design research.
As we move from the self-expressive based design to the user (or use) based
research design we find the research methods vary and have different uses
throughout the design process. Design research used in the early stages
of the design process helps to explore the problem and define the design
goals. Design research used in the latter stages of the design process helps
the designer to evaluate the design concepts more thoroughly.
The benefits of design research are many and both design practitioners and
educators are doing their part to support design research in its many forms.
At the Georgia Institute of Technology, we have included design research
courses in both the undergraduate and graduate curriculum. Students engage
in both qualitative and quantitative forms of traditional research, as well
as the design research methods that are our mainstay, such as 2-D and 3-D
exploration through concept drawings and model making.
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