IASDR-Evans_2013.pdf (365.79 kB)
Breaking out of the academy: case studies in the impact of academic design research
conference contribution
posted on 2015-09-18, 14:05 authored by Mark EvansMark Evans, Sharon CookSharon Cook, Richard FramptonRichard Frampton, George HavenithGeorge Havenith, Russell MarshallRussell MarshallAs a relatively new field of scholarship, design research now confidently defines itself through distinctive academic journals, conferences and associations/societies. However, there is a tendency for the outcomes of academic design research to focus on academic endeavour, such as ways to support teaching and theoretical approaches to designing and design knowledge. This paper explores an alternative position in which the outcomes beyond the academy by making direct contributions to design practice, design innovation, design regulation, design guidelines and design technology. Whilst academic outputs inevitably result in journal publication, the most significant impact of the case studies discussed in the paper can best be described as 'non-academic' in the form of: a high visibility livery for emergency vehicles that has been adopted in the UK and beyond (design guidelines); an award-winning design tool for the Industrial Designers Society of America to standardise the language used for design representations to facilitate understanding and collaboration (design practice); an automatic braking system to reduce motorcycle traffic accidents (design technology); clothing for Great Britain’s Olympic Cycling Track Team to negate the pre-race drop in muscle temperature to enhance performance (design innovation); revisions to a United Nations regulation to increase cyclist visibility when using the rear view mirrors on large goods vehicles (design regulation).The paper concludes that the rigour, specialist in-depth knowledge and ability to view real-world problems with a fresh pair of eyes enables academic design research to have significant and far-reaching impact beyond academia.
History
School
- Design
Published in
5th International Congress of International Associations of Societies of Design Research Proceedings of the 5th International Congress of International Associations of Societies of Design ResearchPages
xx - xx (x)Citation
EVANS, M.A. ...et al., 2013. Breaking out of the academy: case studies in the impact of academic design research. IN: Proceedings of the 5th International Congress of International Associations of Societies of Design Research, Tokyo, 26-30th Aug.Publisher
IASDR © the authorVersion
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Publisher statement
This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Publication date
2013Notes
This is a conference paper.Language
- en