You make it and you try it out: Seeds of design discipline futures

This paper examines the 40-year history of design methodology, tracing its development from the early, rigid attempts to quantify design processes to the more nuanced, pluralistic approaches prevalent today. The author highlights the 1982 Design Policy conference as a pivotal moment where the limitations of early 'scientific' design methods—which sought to treat design as a mechanical, quantifiable process—were exposed. Critics at the time, such as Roger Scruton, argued that these methods failed to capture the essence of design, which is fundamentally about making things and trying them out.

During the 1980s, the discipline experienced a 'social turn,' largely influenced by the MIT design theory group, including figures like Donald Schön and Larry Bucciarelli. This shift moved the focus away from objective truth and toward pragmatism and social constructivism. Researchers began to view design as a dialogic process involving language, meaning, and social interaction. Studies by Bucciarelli and Matthews, for instance, demonstrated that design methods often fail or succeed based on the social dynamics and 'object worlds' of the participants, rather than the technical efficacy of the method itself.

Design thinking has emerged as a successful, albeit sometimes misunderstood, export of the design discipline. While often criticized as a fad, the author argues that when viewed as a way of working—rather than a rigid toolkit—it facilitates creativity, collaboration, and diversity within bureaucratic organizations. Looking forward, the author suggests that the discipline must move beyond its historical focus on male-dominated narratives and address critical issues of power, gender, and cultural context. Future research should treat design methodology as a branch of ethnomethodology, focusing on the social construction of design decisions and the ethical implications of the tools we use.