Positions in Contemporary Design Research

In recent years, design research has been the object of growing attention in universities and academies throughout most of the world. This increased interest is reflected in a rising number of conferences, books and articles that address design in light of various disciplinary perspectives, theories and methods. In a larger perspective, however, design research is still a developing field and far from having constituted a common discipline with an established methodological praxis or a shared theory of science. The present paper addresses the heterogeneous character of design research and the current need for reflection on the various approaches and interests. For that purpose, the paper proposes an effort to map the positions within the field. This effort is guided by a view of design research as an interdisciplinary field that involves many disciplines, mindsets and methodological practices. The paper proposes a categorisation of the field in the form of a position model. The paper’s underlying assumption is that design research as a discipline exists in many different forms that cannot necessarily be brought together under one common academic research tradition; instead it is necessary to attempt to define the field in order to initiate discussions about what constitutes the scientific basis and research base for design.