Diagramming Design Research

This paper proposes a diagramming method to help conceptualize and structure design research. In addition, it shows how the method is useful in situating the design process into larger interdisciplinary bodies of knowledge. The paper begins by defining design and research with consideration of the difference between research and fact‐finding. It then outlines common ways human beings come to know the world; these ways of knowing supply material to devise the proper research diagram for any particular topic. The paper then shows how research from the existing literature can be diagrammed, thus supplying students with a new analytical tool. Following this, several examples from student work in diagramming design research are outlined and analyzed. The conclusion considers how the diagramming method serves as a bridge to research nomenclature in other disciplines. Far from taking anything away from the design process, the use of the diagramming tool strengthens design itself as a form of inquiry. In short, the diagramming tool not only integrates design with research, it also promotes a more systematic interdisciplinary understanding of the design process.