Philosophy of design research

Abstract

The paper investigates the conceptual possibility of a threefold distinction in design research that parallels the threefold distinction of laws, theories and research programs in nomic research, viz. design laws, design theories, and design research programs. In view of a rather different picture of design or, more broadly, applied theories of Ilkka Niiniluoto, the paper leaves the challenge to start comparative case studies to evaluate the two conceptions.