Difference by design

Automotive Design & Production, July, 2004

"I think every designer dreams of making work that makes a difference." And I think that Brenda Laurel, editor of Design Research: Methods and Perspectives (The MIT Press; 334 pp., $39.95) and author of those words, is absolutely right. If the point isn't to make a difference, then what is the point? But there is a rub. As one of the 40 designers/researchers included in the book, Rachel Strickland, writes, "As designers operating in corporate culture, we are bound in our education and practice to accede to the tenets of capitalism. We serve an economic regime that relies on exploitation of people and resources. No matter how benign or excellent the design, there is always an element of inducing people to have needs, persuading them to consume, dispose, and consume again." While Strickland may be a little strident in her phraseology, in point of fact, commercial designers must take the realities of commerce into account when creating designs. As still another contributor, Rob Tow, explains, "It's important to be passionate about your work, and be true to yourself--and sometimes the best way to do that is to walk away from an employer. You always have to have a customer for your work--one that values it." The customer who doesn't value your work really isn't a customer, or at least not one for the long term.

There are ways to improve the acceptance of your designs. And those ways are the subject of the various essays in the book. Laurel claims, "In the world of commerce, design research betters the odds for a successful, even delightful, match between an audience's needs and desires with a product, service or experience." And as the title of the book states, the various ways that design research can be carried out for a variety of products is explored and examined. While none of the examples in the book are specifically automotive related, that may be a good thing. As Darrel Rhea writes, "We often use expert interviews when studying a category, and we find that our most productive and enlightening experts are outside the category. Their perspective and frame of reference are unique--exactly what we need to challenge more entrenched thinking." Going to another realm for ideas is exceedingly helpful. Recently, for example, there seems to be an effort made particularly by vehicle interior designers to spend time at furniture fairs and expos, looking at the sorts of seating and lighting and so on are being created for domiciles. Arguably, there needs to be more of this.

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But design research is more than exploring other fields, more than interviewing experts and customers. Rhea is worth quoting at length:

Real innovation is inherently risky and involves change. Design Research provides the rationale for the organization to understand why a change is worth the risk. Almost all people and organizations resist change, only embracing it when required to for survival. Innovation is threatening, requiring new ways of thinking, working, manufacturing, distributing, communicating and selling. This creates discomfort for people, and generates internal "corporate anti-bodies" that fight innovative ideas. Groups tend to seek stasis or a status quo, not reinvention. This means senior management must intervene to overcome these tendencies.

The point is that design research can provide rationale for change, a rationale that, conceivably (ideally), can overcome the seeming natural resistance within organizations to want to do things the same as they ever were, same as they ever were.

Of course, if this doesn't work, you can, as Tow puts it, "The lesson is that, like Kurasowa's wandering ronin Sanjuro, you can leave town, and it's OK to do that." Sometimes you design. And sometimes you just have to walk. Presumably, some of the techniques and practices in Design Research will help you marshal the resources necessary to happily stay put--or to productively move on.--GSV