Seventeenth International Conference on Design Principles & Practices

Abstract

As a design student I was taught that design has become ubiquitous, that it is everywhere if you pay enough attention to the artifacts, environments, and things we do and things we interact with. Many decades and three design degrees after, I became a design educator and have taught in design classrooms most of the subjects a future designer needs to learn. But I also observed over the years that design education still struggles to explain what design is in disciplinary terms. Design can be many things and none, and sometimes is easier to explain what design is not, and to detach learning design from learning other related disciplines. In that process, the teaching of design falls in several swindles, by overfocusing in matters that seem epistemologically sounded but miss important points that makes design and designers relevant for the evolution of professional practice, education, and research. This study identifies and describes five issues in design education that should be considered to advance the future of the discipline.