Richard Buchanan has proposed a model of the space of
design research, “The Matrix of Inquiry” [ 7]. Rick Robinson
summarizes it nicely:
“The vertical axis… is asking what drives a particular
inquiry—from the immediate needs of production, through
questions of (design) practice out to questions generated
by theory. [Most research skews toward the bottom.]
The horizontal or ‘scope of inquiry’ dimension presses
a slightly different question upon us. By ‘clinical’ Buchanan
refers to work primarily based on case studies. Again,
were we to plot relevant work in the field, ‘skew’ would
be a barely adequate description of the result. A single
case study is often a powerful thing. But theory cannot
be built on cases alone, especially when one case is
rarely connected to the next. It is, as Buchanan’s diagram
implies, a limited ‘scope of inquiry.’ If case studies are the
only fodder for the conversation, there is no extension,
little reach beyond the immediate, and no larger patterns
The Matrix of Inquiry
or emergent issues for theory to make sense of...

Matrix of Inquiry for Design Research after Richard Buchanan

Nature of Inquiry

kind of question
Theory
prinicples + causes
of design
Practice
design practice

September + October 2010

Production
making products
Past
history
Present
creation + criticism
Clinical
the single case
Applied
issues common
to a family of cases
Basic
fundamental issues
common to all cases

Scope of Inquiry

scale of investigation

Direction of Inquiry

orientation in time
Future
theory