sidebar) is still not a large part of
the program. There are no schools
that focus on the education of design
researchers at the undergraduate level
and just a handful that focus on it at
the graduate level. But this is rapidly
changing. In Delft 10 years ago,
individual design students explored
generative and other participatory
design methods. Over the past decade
they became part of the mainstream
curriculum and focus of research.
Designers are now educated at the
graduate level with a basis in general
design methods as well as more
knowledge from social sciences and
more emphasis on facilitation and
research than in earlier years. But
by and large, designers and design
researchers are finding their own way.
Design graduates are not
necessarily working in the design
discipline in which they had received
training because there are so many
other options, such as interaction
design, social design, and service
design. Service design, in particular,
requires the collaboration and
integration of many disciplines.
2044: A SLICE IN TIME
Obviously, creating a bulleted list of
how we will live in 2044 is guesswork,
but we will go ahead and speculate
about (not predict) how we will live,
work, and design in the future. Those
who read this now will probably have
a tough time in 2044 coping with the
new mindsets and ways of being, just
like those who thrived in a paper-based world in 1984 are uneasy with
all the changes now.
First and foremost, design will play
an increasingly large and significant
role:
• Everyone designs.
• Design is a collective activity.
• Funding for frugal innovation
[ 5] has surpassed funding for
technological innovation, with
the funding sources coming from
collaborations between the public and
private sectors.
• We understand the need for a
balance between the real and the
virtual ways of living and working,
and we know how to achieve it.
However, not everyone chooses to stay
in balance.
• Arts and crafts that were
traditionally practiced by either
males or females have intersected and
EMERGING AREAS FOR DESIGN RESEARCH AND PRACTICE
Service design and design fiction are just two of the emerging areas for design research and
practice that are receiving attention. This figure positions a number of the new approaches
relative to each other and across different timeframes. Movements of design are emerging
across timescales: the world as it is (inner ring), the near future (middle ring), and the
speculative future (outer ring).
Note that the diagram is radial and positions the designing-with mindset on the right and
the designing-for mindset to the left. The diagram shows where service design and design
fiction sit in relation to the other trends and approaches. At the center of the diagram is the
traditional core of designing. The three timeframes emanate outward from the core. The first
layer around the core refers the world as it is, the second layer to the near future, and the
third layer to the speculative future.
In the segment to the right, service design and social design are usually seen as
manifestations of the intent to serve people. In the middle, user experience and embodied
interaction aim to engage people. In the segment to the left, design interventions and critical
design intend to provoke or stir people up. Design fiction sits midway between engaging and
provoking on the outside layer of the speculative future. What will sit between serving and
engaging in the speculative future? (Adapted from [ 7])
design fiction embodied
interaction
critical
design
design
interventions r
user
experience
service
design
social
design
for designing with
provoking
engaging
serving
MAIN STORY DIAGRAM
This diagram gives an overview of the storylines we discussed.
WHAT
result of
designing
WHO design FOR consumers design WITH users design BY people
1984 2014 2044
WHY
methods
and
location of
designing
the roles and
professions
that
participate in
(co)designing
the values that
guide design
decisions
product interaction
person-product
multiple relations between
people, products, services,
infrastructures
plus diverse inter-related
networked activities
net works of diverse
teams and individuals
plus collaborative sessions,
also on location of use
teams and groups involving
users and stakeholders
sales and long-term relations
social issues
multiple values,
not reducible to
a single dimension
sketching, modeling,
programming
in the office
solo professional
working from
brief by client
sales in
the marketplace
NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2014 INTERACTIONS 31 INTERACTIONS.ACM.ORG