3 responses to Design renews its relationship with science
stefanie March 13, 2011 at 8:47 pm
I wholeheartedly agree that for the most part science lacks the opportunities hidden in the “grey” that designers find through “intuition”. But as a student who has converted from science to a design degree, i can echo Ellie’s comment that a lot of scientists in fact exhibit “design thinking” without realising they do so, and in fact “design thinking” makes up a large part of (often creative) problem solving towards scientific solutions.
The best example of scientists utilizing DT in their everyday practise would be theoretical physicist and astrophysicists. The nature of constantly reinterpreting the “small” (quantum physics), whilst trying to keep in mind the “large” (universe) reflects the nature of designers focusing on HCD (small=people) whilst developing sound solutions for the “large” (companies and corporations/the environment)
could design and science -in in this respect- share fundamental thought processes/patterns and learn from one another? I believe design should analyze the thought process inherit in these fields of science for new insights into looking at and interpreting ‘designerly’ solutions.
I find this topic intriguing and am currently exploring the relationship through my research.
After all, we (as designers) can’t assume the sole creation of “design thinking”
Stefanie Di Russo
(student) PhD in Design
Swinburne University
Melbourne, Australia