Papers by Kees Dorst
In problem framing, designers produce frames, or a new perspective on a situation, that help to c... more In problem framing, designers produce frames, or a new perspective on a situation, that help to create a novel standpoint from which a problem situation may be tackled. Recently, there is an increase in the popularity of design as a problem solving and innovation approach outside of the traditional design field. This leads to new demands for explicit frame creation instructions and tools. However, most researchers studied the use of frames and processes around problem frames but not where frames come from. So, there is a need for a better understanding of problem framing. In this paper we propose the study of metaphor as a way to improve our understanding of problem framing. This approach opens up the rich knowledge base of metaphor research to help illuminate the ‘mysterious’ problem framing process. Base on this initial study of selected metaphor theories; we have developed a typology of metaphors that illuminates how metaphorical problem frames are created.
This contribution presents a formal description of the design practice of framing and identifies ... more This contribution presents a formal description of the design practice of framing and identifies two general modes in which framing can lead to failure in design projects. The first is called the goal reformulation failure mode and occurs when designers reformulate the goal of the client in a design task and give design solutions that solve the reformulated goal but not the original goal. The second is called the frame failure mode and occurs when designers propose a frame for the design task that cannot be accepted by the client. The analysis of framing and its failure modes is aimed at better understanding this design practice and provides a first step towards arriving at criteria that successful applications of framing should meet. The description and the failure modes are illustrated by critically considering an initially successful case of framing, namely the redesign of the Kings Cross entertainment district in Sydney.
We present two approaches for addressing complex societal and business problems: frame creation a... more We present two approaches for addressing complex societal and business problems: frame creation and design led innovation. Both methods combine a broad systems approach to problem solving together with the reframing of problems based on uncovering deep underlying human values and needs. While the practical usefulness and viability of our methods has been established through a series of projects, design methods need evaluative criteria to enable a more formal discussion and assessment of projects. This is particularly important for enabling comparisons across studies, and/or when attempting to communicate the value of design to non-design audience. For this purpose, we suggest articulating the steps of design methods using S.M.A.R.T. criteria from the management literature. We describe the aims, means, and evaluative criteria of each step of our methods, which can be likened to the specific (S) and measurable (M) indices of S.M.A.R.T. Thus, S.M.AR.T. descriptions enable management of projects by means of their own design methods and contribute to establishing sound design innovation methodologies that can eventually be scaled up for large research programs and educational purposes.
Research in Engineering Design, 2005
Over the last 12 years, the design research group at the Key Centre for Computing at the Universi... more Over the last 12 years, the design research group at the Key Centre for Computing at the University of Sydney has been developing an extensive model of designing, looking at designing as a process in which the concepts of function, behaviour and structure of artefacts play a central role. In this paper, we critically analyse this model of designing, focussing on its internal clarity and external empirical validation. We review the model and present the definitions of the key concepts function, behaviour and structure. In doing so we show that one can distinguish at least two different versions of the model. Finally, we raise fundamental questions about the precise location of the transition between structural and intentional descriptions of artefacts in these versions, and about the empirical status of the model as a whole.
Design Studies, 2002
In this paper, we present an action-theoretical account of use and design. Central to this accoun... more In this paper, we present an action-theoretical account of use and design. Central to this account is the notion of a user plan, which leads us to distinguish a cycle of plan design from one of artefact design. We comment on the nature and scope of our account from the perspective of design methodology in general, and we show that it can be employed to analyse the shortcomings of one design method in particular, namely quality function deployment. Finally, we examine some consequences for a philosophy of artefacts and their functions. k c 1 Davidson, D 'Replies to essays I-IX' in B Vermazen and M Hintikka (eds) Essays on Davidson: action and events, Clarendon Press, Oxford (1985) 2 Audi, R 'Intention, cognitive commitment, and planning' Synthese Vol 86 (1991) 361-378 3 Bratman, M Intentions, plans and practical reason Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA (1987) 4 Audi, R Practical reasoning Routledge, London (1989) chapter 7 5 Galle, P 'Design as intentional action: a conceptual analysis' Design Studies Vol 20 (1999) 57-81 304 Design Studies Vol 23 No. 3 May 2002
Design Issues, 2006
The problem-solving literature that arose in the 1960s and 1970s in the promising and exciting fi... more The problem-solving literature that arose in the 1960s and 1970s in the promising and exciting field of artificial intelligence has had a profound impact on Design Methodology. The introduction of these theories in Design Methodology, at the start of the 1970s, helped to ...
Journal of Art & Design Education, 1994
This report of a series of protocol studies of designers at varying levels of competence examines... more This report of a series of protocol studies of designers at varying levels of competence examines the pedagogical system of integrating developing skills with increasing project complexity as a definition of design expeitise. It comments on different kinds of problem-solving strategies which are used to ensure the appropriateness of the aims of design education, and assesses the relative importance that novelty and creativity, uncertainty and information, imagination and constructive thought, and drawing and modelling play in the maturation of designers. The results show a lack of predictability, but that the abilities needed for design expertise can be articulated and developed as educational programmes.
Design ability and differences between novice and expert designers have been quite extensively st... more Design ability and differences between novice and expert designers have been quite extensively studied in the field of design methodology. For example, design expertise got much attention in the latest Design Thinking Research Symposium held in Australia. Little attention, however, is paid to the development from novice into expert. At this moment, there is no theoretical basis for explaining and understanding the kinds of transformations the design student has to go through, and there is no theoretical basis for identifying the degree of design expertise of a designer at a certain moment. Also, little is known about how to stimulate design expertise development. We propose to study the development of expertise in designing. This paper introduces a model of the development of design expertise, based on the general skill acquisition model of Dreyfus. Characteristics and limitations of the general model relevant for its application to the field of design are discussed. We will try to match the levels of expertise as they are identified in the model with some empirical data, consisting of a set of self-evaluations of a design student. We could find some empirical basis for the model, but much more detailed empirical investigations are needed to reflect on the basic assumptions of the model. We therefore introduce a wider research programme that eventually should result in a stable description of levels of design expertise, a description of the transitions to higher levels of design expertise, and in ways to support design expertise development.
Teaching Documents by Kees Dorst
She Ji is a peer-reviewed, trans-disciplinary design journal with a focus on economics and innova... more She Ji is a peer-reviewed, trans-disciplinary design journal with a focus on economics and innovation, design process and design thinking. The journal invites papers that enrich the understanding and practice that enable design innovation in industry, business, non-profit services, and government through economic and social value creation. These papers may explore how design thinking can inform wider social, managerial, and intellectual discourses with an added focus on strategy and management. She Ji also publishes articles in research methods and methodology, philosophy, and philosophy of science to support the core journal area.
She Ji is fully open access. Tongji University and Tongji University Press support She Ji as a contribution to the design field and a public service to design research. Authors are not liable for any publication charges and all published articles are accessible free of charge from the journal web site at URL:
https://www.journals.elsevier.com/she-ji-the-journal-of-design-economics-and-innovation/
She Ji -- Design, Economics, and Innovation by Kees Dorst
by Ken Friedman, Cees de Bont, Derek B Miller, Jordan Beck, Susu Nousala, Danah Henriksen, Jerry Diethelm, Cara Wrigley, Don Norman, Gerda Gemser, Maria Camacho, Justin Cook, Hugh Dubberly, and Kees Dorst This issue we address is “The Design Continuum from Simplicity to Complex Systems.” Articles incl... more This issue we address is “The Design Continuum from Simplicity to Complex Systems.” Articles include: 1) “From Autonomous Systems to Sociotechnical Systems: Designing Effective Collaborations” by Kyle J. Behymer and John M. Flach with commentary by Derek Miller, Hugh Dubberly, Paul Pangaro, and Susu Nousala. 2) “Examining Practical, Everyday Theory Use in Design Research” by Jordan Beck and Erik Stolterman with commentary by Danah Henriksen, Jeffrey Bardzell, and Deirdre Barron. 3) “Design Innovation Catalysts: Education and Impact” by Cara Wrigley. 4) “De-Colonizing Design Thinking” by Jerry Diethelm. There are also book reviews by Luke Feast and Don Norman, and an exchange of letters between Stuart Walker, Gerda Gemser, and Cees de Bont.
She Ji is a peer-reviewed, trans-disciplinary design journal with a focus on economics and innova... more She Ji is a peer-reviewed, trans-disciplinary design journal with a focus on economics and innovation, design process and design thinking. The journal invites papers that enrich the understanding and practice that enable design innovation in industry, business, non-profit services, and government through economic and social value creation. These papers may explore how design thinking can inform wider social, managerial, and intellectual discourses with an added focus on strategy and management. She Ji also publishes articles in research methods and methodology, philosophy, and philosophy of science to support the core journal area.
She Ji is fully open access. Tongji University and Tongji University Press support She Ji as a contribution to the design field and a public service to design research. Authors are not liable for any publication charges and all published articles are accessible free of charge from the journal web site at URL:
https://www.journals.elsevier.com/she-ji-the-journal-of-design-economics-and-innovation/
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Papers by Kees Dorst
Teaching Documents by Kees Dorst
She Ji is fully open access. Tongji University and Tongji University Press support She Ji as a contribution to the design field and a public service to design research. Authors are not liable for any publication charges and all published articles are accessible free of charge from the journal web site at URL:
https://www.journals.elsevier.com/she-ji-the-journal-of-design-economics-and-innovation/
She Ji -- Design, Economics, and Innovation by Kees Dorst
She Ji is fully open access. Tongji University and Tongji University Press support She Ji as a contribution to the design field and a public service to design research. Authors are not liable for any publication charges and all published articles are accessible free of charge from the journal web site at URL:
https://www.journals.elsevier.com/she-ji-the-journal-of-design-economics-and-innovation/
She Ji is fully open access. Tongji University and Tongji University Press support She Ji as a contribution to the design field and a public service to design research. Authors are not liable for any publication charges and all published articles are accessible free of charge from the journal web site at URL:
https://www.journals.elsevier.com/she-ji-the-journal-of-design-economics-and-innovation/
She Ji is fully open access. Tongji University and Tongji University Press support She Ji as a contribution to the design field and a public service to design research. Authors are not liable for any publication charges and all published articles are accessible free of charge from the journal web site at URL:
https://www.journals.elsevier.com/she-ji-the-journal-of-design-economics-and-innovation/