School of Design

This paper discusses the case study of the new research and education framework applied at the school of design at Northumbria University that aims at building an integrated sustainable design research community. This community concerns itself with developing design value propositions (new methods, new knowledge and new design IDEAS or applications) by combining the three broad domains of the discipline (forms of practice); practice through collaboration (new methods), discovery through research (new knowledge), and new solutions through engagement (new products, services). In both academic and commercial context this also culminates into a purposeful learning for all stakeholders. The authors explain that the methodological gap between design 'doers' and design scholars in an academic context makes the process of design leadership very difficult. The paper discusses the paradox that design in the academia needs to respond to the conflict between learning through doing (design) and learning through research of design. Additionally, the paper highlights the challenges that School of design at Northumbria came across while establishing this research community and also discusses everyday challenges of maintaining this community.

The modernist tradition still drives our society and our scientific endeavors. Modernity stood for technology push, progress through industry, linearity, money, the abstract, and the logical. But it has resulted in a feeling of uneasiness, even coldness. That is why, we think, there is now such a drive to get human and societal values back in the equation: Think of human-centered engineering, the experience economy, funology, and the like. In this article we give an example of the direction interaction-design research might take. We describe an approach that exploits all human skills, including perceptual-motor and emotional skills. We then reflect on the question of why industry has been slow to adopt this approach.