User, Research, and Practice. Learning from Design Consultancies

Abstract

This paper reports a study that focuses on the impact of design research department on a consultancy's design process. Six 10-business-day long field studies were conducted at design consultancies representing architecture, industrial design, and interaction design. The findings show that design research departments impact the design process through design research outcomes and processes. Design research outcomes mainly target the client; but also serve as a validation tool for designers, provide a checklist for designers to target, and work as a boundary object between the client and the design team. In contrast to research outcomes, the design research processes were observed to have a deeper impact on designers through collaborative learning, contextual information, shared user scenarios, focus on user experience, and project rooms. In conclusion, rather than the existence of a design research department, the active participation of designers in the user involvement process has the biggest impact on the design process.