Research through design: reflection through representation

Abstract

We explore the central role of the representation of the project, in its various aspects of process representation and final artifact presentation in real life design activities. Interesting feedback loops emerge and reveal that representation, design artifact and process documentation live in a tangled web of reciprocal influences. We make the case for the designer and researcher to take responsibility for all the representations of his work, from sketch to scrap. We finally claim that the quality of the representations is a key element to assess the design and its research-related qualities..