Abstract

Design research engages with what are called ‘wicked problems’ (Buchanan, 1996) that are incommensurate, complex, layered and often beguiling and enigmatic assemblages, across past, present and future contexts. For design research, much of what is learnt through researching often occurs as a result of the designer being part of the process of the research itself, within the situation being explored (Findeli, 2001). A design research project often unfolds around a distinctively unique, situated and bounded problem space that includes a variety of actors and human and non-human factors and relations. Typically, both quantitative and qualitative data are engaged in this complex process of discovery, where the situated nature of the research question or context, and the iterative processes of design thinking, becomes highly significant in guiding and shaping any research findings (Lawson, 2006).