Documenting design research by structured multilevel analysis: supporting the diversity of the design research community of practice

Abstract

The diversity of design research studies and their associated methods and reporting style make it difficult for the design research community of practice to leverage its work into further advancing the field. We illustrate how a structured multilevel analysis of diverse studies creates a canonical model that allows for the transfer of insight between studies, enhances their comprehension, and supports improved study designs. The benefits of such an approach will increase if different stakeholders adopt such structured approaches to enrich the design research community of practice.

The Archimedes Code: a dialogue between science, practice, design theory and systems engineering

“…Such failure could be explained using the PSI framework (Reich & Subrahmanian 2020a). Had I used it to plan the research (Reich & Subrahmanian 2022b), it could have been avoided. Being a reflexive practitioner, using PSI to plan this research would have been useful here (Reich 2017).…”

Constructing a Product Architecture Strategy and Effects (Pase) Matrix for Evaluation and Selection of Product Architectures

“…While experienced designers can often intuitively reduce risks and costs in their designs, this is restricted to efforts with which the designers are familiar. And because design is a complex endeavor involving individuals and teams often collaborating across organizational boundaries (Reich and Subrahmanian, 2022), it cannot be assumed or expected that all designers are either experienced or have engineering training. Thus it is difficult for many design teams to effectively leverage the existing information to improve their selections of architecture strategies and anticipate many of the effects of these selections.…”

Journal innovations, 2021 closure, and reviewers’ gratitude

“…The second innovation deals with improving the quality of submissions, easing their review, and making them more comprehensible and accessible to a wider audience. The quest to achieve these goals is challenging and consequently requires extended participation of the research community to practice proposals (Reich and Subrahmanian 2022 ), design alternatives, and evolve this practice.…”