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Recently there has been some discussions on the value that design research brings to the table. Some have questioned it too. And when it comes from the likes of Don Norman, it is bound to create a furor. Many in the design fraternity, disagree on what he says, but there has to be some element of truth in his claim. Just following the articles on the net, have been an eye opener in many sorts. Some have gone for a full fledged rebuttal, where as some agree to some points and some disagree. Here below I have given links to some of those articles.

A typical Design Research Study

Norman’s article on this same starts with a rather discomforting statement for companies like us who believe in the value of design research. One thing that a lot tend to mistake for is that it is the same as User Research.

Here is a response to the same article by Steve Portigal, principal at Portigal Consulting,  and also here a post on the same by a member at Frog Design. Very interesting points of views and all these articles are a must read for anyone who is interested in knowing what Design Research is all about .

In my opinion, Design Research allows a larger scope for innovation and that is the prime source of  the value for Design Research. This has also been discussed at length in the book “The Semantic Turn: A New Foundation for Design” (Klaus Krippendorff)

In our scenario where we are aiming to study emerging markets, especially India, the scope and the need for Design Research is immense. That requires a a separate post and this post is just to start the discussions on Design Research and beyond.