Perspectives on Building a Foundation for Design Research

Abstract

Building a Foundation for Design Research Methods is one of the three sections of the Annotated Design Research Bibliography. Design is a hybrid activity that encompasses many disciplines beyond itself, which blend depending on the nature of the research project. To support a range of design research activities, thirty books listed in this section embrace research principles and methods from general to specific research content and practice across three levels of design research: basic research, applied research and clinical research. The content in the book lists demonstrate methodologies from many design research perspectives, from those with a social science focus to those with a science orientation, to those that build method from a design perspective. The research method guidance in these books is useful for both design researchers and design practitioners who are interested in building a body of design knowledge.