Science in Design

Solidifying Design with Science and Technology

Tarun Grover, Mugdha Thareja

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781000331264
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Tecnologia e ingegneria
• Subtopic: Ingegneria chimica e biochimica

There is an important overlap between science and design. The most significant technological developments cannot be produced without designers to conceptualize them. By the same token, designers cannot do their job properly without a good understanding of the scientific or technical principles that are being developed within the product. Science in Design: Solidifying Design with Science and Technology reveals the significance of the essential yet understudied intersection of design and scientific academic research and encompasses technological development, scientific principles, and the point of overlap between science and design.

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• Encourages readers to comprehend the role of science in all facets of design

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• Discusses the fundamental involvement of science required for engineering and design irrespective of whether the design is from an individual, business, or social perspective

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• Covers the ontology, characteristics, and application of science in major fields of design education and design research, with an introduction of emerging practices transforming sustainable growth through applied behavioral models

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• Depicts the art and science of material selection using new design techniques and technology advances like augmented reality, AI, and decision-support toolkits

This unique book will benefit scientists, technologists, and engineers, as well as designers and professionals, across a variety of industries dealing with scientific analysis of design research methodology, design lifecycle, and problem solving.

1 General Aspects of Science, Design, and Engineering

1.1 What Is Design?

A design is a strategy or specification for the development of a system or object. In other words, design can be thought of as the implementation of a plan or a process to achieve an objective. More often, the term “design” is used to indicate the outcome of a process or strategy in the form of a prototype or a final product. The broader meaning of design can be interpreted more easily with the following narration.

Undoubtedly, the term “design” encompasses the varying viewpoints of people who understand its meaning through different lenses. In general, “design” is the process of visualizing and planning the development of systems, objects, methods, products, etc. The definition of design is versatile and artful, and design has taken many shapes and forms based on multidisciplinary concepts. Besides the major cluster of design disciplines (engineering, information systems, industrial, architecture, textile, and fashion), experience design, service design, and interactive design have evolved as new domains for design enthusiasts to explore deeper insights.

1.1.1 Definition of Design

First, let’s glance at some of the noteworthy definitions of design by well-known authors.

A design is a plan to make something new for people that they perceive as beneficial.

– Koss Looijesteijn

Design is a reflective conversation with the materials of a design solution.

– Donald A. Schön

It’s the difference between your favourite and least favourite thing you use.

– Scott Berkum

Design is its own culture of inquiry and action.

– Harold Nelson, Erik Stolterman

Having these in mind, the ability to design and the notion of design relating its associative aspects are the key focus in conceiving the definition of the term “design”. Design can be classified based on three fundamental perspectives: art, problem solving, and the pursuit of the ideal [2].

a)Ability to Design

The importance of designing ability has been realized by many design educators and practitioners for enhancing learners’ skills to design. However, there is no clear picture of what constitutes traits of designing aptitude, since the various meaning of design makes this perspective a much broader concept. The classification of designing ability is aimed at encouraging efforts toward addressing challenges like contributing to building the future world, solving difficult problems pertaining to the environment, and acting as a guide for the next generation to follow. Therefore, the classification of design and designers’ perspectives plays an important role in formulating a definition of design.

b)Notion of Design

Here, we explain the three notions of design and discuss their influence on the development of a new product or system.

Class A: Art

Design is widely assumed as the expression of ideas in the form of sketches or drawings, commonly known as art. This is the classification of design on the basis of its common use. Although art seems to be creative, the creativity itself involves the process of transforming an imaginary picture into a concrete object. In particular, the process of creative art involves an examination of the past, since the image for an abstract idea comes from the designer’s own mind and memory.

Class B: Problem solving

In this notion of design, the main focus is on how to design in the context of the current problem rather than on what to design. In this case, the procedural design is depicted within the framework of problem solving. Within this framework, the process of designing a solution requires identifying a problem and examining the gap between the existing state and the target design goal. In other words, the solution to a problem lies hidden in the designing gap. Therefore, a problem-solving activity cannot generate a new goal unless the procedure of determining the desired goal is complete. “To design is to plan, to order, to relate and to control”, says Emil Ruder.

Class C: Pursuit of the Ideal

The term “design” can be used to explain the pursuit of certain ideals, i.e., solving evident problems. This notion of design can be understood easily from a social perspective and contains within it the definition of the future. The classification of design in the context of ideal pursuing refers to anticipating the future. It involves the process of abstraction in an ideal environment. Furthermore, this notion describes the nature of design that conforms to the future perspective that only humans can perceive. According to the design definition by Herbert Simon, “To design is to devise courses of action aimed at changing existing situations into preferred ones”.

On the basis of above classifications, design can be defined as “the composition of a desired goal toward the future”.

1.1.2 Themes of Design

In order to set the theme of design, lots of different permutations and combinations can be applied, but the most straightforward way of explaining design would be through design education. Education in design is a way to know what and how, which are the means to a qualified design profession, which is a means to well-designed processes and products, which are means to economic competitiveness, which is a means to job creation, which is a means to economic wealth, which is a means to the quality of life [1]. There are a variety of approaches to defining the curriculum of design where the perspective, context, training, and goals may vary. Some of the approaches common to all perspectives are illustrated below (Figure 1.1).

FIGURE 1.1: Themes of the design curriculum.

• Project-based Learning
  This is one of the best approaches to learn “design by doing design”, which gives hands-on experience to learners and students. Throughout the project, the designer has the responsibility to define the problem, ideate and present designs, and then make refinements on receiving feedback through “Critiques”.
• Visualization
  With a foundation in aesthetics, designers practice visualization techniques to quickly sketch the abstract image and efficiently turn complex ideas or problems into easy-to-understand visuals.
• Insight, Research, and Co-creation
  Designers need to walk in the shoes of customers to gain better insight into their problems. There are various methods to collect information or data about the defined/unknown problems. Examples include learning interview techniques, design research, co-creation, and mapping techniques, through which designers can grow their empathy for users and train to move past their own preconceptions and biases.
• Prototyping
  Prototyping allows designers to rapidly build a test module, and then evaluate and iterate the design process based on the new concepts and feedback, saving time and money during a project.
• Methodology
  Methodology entails the final process for narrowing down to the best-fit solution after executing a number of trials that generate numerous concepts for exploration.
• Visual Communication
  Visual communication enables human power to receive and respond to visual information by seeing the shape, line, color, and type of visual elements. Having a strong visual communication theme allows designers to create different gestures and emotions.
• Storytelling
  We humans respond best to stories — it is how we naturally process and store information. Likewise, designers learn to harness this approach both in text and in user flows in order to sell concepts.

1.1.3 Multiple Facets of Design Paradigm

According to Bryan Lawson and Kees Dorst (author of Design Expertise), “One of the difficulties in understanding design, is its multifaceted nature. There is no one single way of looking at the design that captures the ‘essence’ without missing some other salient aspects”. Therefore, it is a big challenge to define the design in one frame. This is considered as a process of design activities – inputs, evaluations, and outputs. Design is truly multifaceted; it is a composition of many different disciplines of work coming together. The concept of the design paradigm is used to illustrate the model of an object that alters the layout with an aim to address changing demands and problems facing the distinguished design professions. A design paradigm can be envisioned as a prototype or a solution considered by a community as being effective, influential, and sustainable for growth. A design paradigm is a three-dimensional structure of a working relationship between groups of components and serves as an epitome for business success that ensures the quality of deliverables. The latest emerging and most powerful aspects of design paradigm are as follows:

• Experience Design: Exper...