This paper offers an argument in favour of Research through Design as a valid research approach by situating it within a Constructionist epistemological perspective. It suggests a Grounded Theory methodology with a Postmodernist turn through a case study.

The paper suggests that while Research through Design can be part of the data gathered in a research project, such data needs to be compared with other data from the world –interviews, user testing, literature, expert reviews...- in order to avoid being an only practice-based project or a purely subjective and uncritical work of research.

This paper offers an argument in favour of Research through Design as a valid research approach by situating it within an epistemological perspective and suggesting a methodology for its analysis. The epistemology and methodology described in this paper will help researchers and research students develop Research through Design projects that will respond to the increasing complexity of our professional and academic worlds.

Design practice has been criticised for its attempts to be validated as research. Research through Design is a term that many designers and academics use in orderto validate their practice as research. In the current Design world, designers and researchers keep crossing the borders and engaging in both activities. Such borders are becoming ever more blurred. The interest of designers to carry out research and of researchers to use the practice of Design as a method can be expected to increase in academia and industry. However, there needs to be a discussion on how this can happen in a way that can be fruitful for both areas.

Two of the main arguments against practice-based research are: a) the epistemological foundations of research developed through practice are unsubstantiated; and b) tacit knowledge and reflective practice are not the basis of research and theorising, as there needs to be explicit knowledge in research.

This paper will make explicit the difference between practice-based research and Research through Design. The paper will compare the following epistemological perspectives: Positivism, Constructionism, Constructivism and Subjectivism.

The paper suggests that design practice is highly subjectivist and therefore lacks a critical and systematic approach necessary in research. However, it suggests that Research through Design fits within a Constructivist and Postmodernist approach to research.

Grounded Theory with a postmodern turn can be a useful methdology for assessing the lessons learnt from Research through Design. The paper concludes that while Research through Design can be part of the data gathered in a research project, such data needs to be compared with other data from the world –interviews, user testing, literature and expert reviews- in order to avoid being a purely subjective and uncritical work of research. Grounded Theory with a postmodern approach can be the methodology for putting together all of the data in the quest of Design researchers for constructing new knowledge. The paper discusses how Research through Design can relate to different epistemologies through a case study. Such case study consists of a project that addressed the experience and emotions people feel towards the act of setting up a mouse trap to kill a mouse. That project produced the design of a number of mouse traps with the purpose of studying what was the relationship between emotion and behaviour in Design.

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About the author

Edgar Rodriguez graduated in Industrial Design at UNAM, Mexico City and ENSCI Les Ateliers, Paris. He has worked as an Industrial Designer for Samsung Electronics (Seoul), Studio Santachiara (Milan), Sismo Design (Paris), and MDA (Mexico City). His designs range from TV sets, furniture, lamps, mouse traps, digital cameras and equipment. His clients have included HP, FontanaArte, Samsung Electronics, Cirque du Soleil, among others. He is currently teaching at Victoria University of Wellington and finishing a PhD in Design, Emotion and Behaviour, supervised by Dr Kees Overbeeke from TU Eindhoven. He has presented in dozens of International Conferences and his design work has been exhibited and published in South Korea, Italy, Portugal, New Zealand, France, The Netherlands, Canada, Mexico, Spain and Sweden.

Rodriguez Ramirez, Edgar R.
Lecturer, Victoria University of Wellington
139 Vivian St, Wellington, New Zealand
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