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Scientific design rationale

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2008

Steven R. Haynes ,
Paula M. Bach  and
John M. Carroll
Steven R. Haynes
Affiliation:
College of Information Sciences and Technology, Penn State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
Paula M. Bach
Affiliation:
College of Information Sciences and Technology, Penn State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
John M. Carroll
Affiliation:
College of Information Sciences and Technology, Penn State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
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Abstract

Design rationale should be regarded both as a tool for the practice of design, and as a method to enable the science of design. Design rationale answers questions about why a given design takes the form that it does. Answers to these why questions represent a significant portion of the knowledge generated from design research. This knowledge, along with that from empirical studies of designs in use, contributes to what Simon called the sciences of the artificial. Most research on the nature and use of design rationale has been analytic or theoretical. In this article, we describe an empirical study of the roles that design rationale can play in the conduct of design research. We report results from an interview study with 16 design researchers investigating how they construe and carry out design as research. The results include an integrated framework of the affordances design rationale can contribute to design research. The framework and supporting qualitative data provide insight into how design rationale might be more effectively leveraged as a first-class methodology for research into the creation and use of artifacts.

Keywords

AffordancesDesign RationaleDesign ResearchDesign Research Methodology
Type
Research Article
Information
AI EDAM , Volume 22 , Issue 4: Design Rationale , November 2008 , pp. 359 - 373
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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