Critical Perspectives on Design and Design Thinking

Abstract

This chapter scrutinizes three leading theorists of design and design thinking, Herbert Simon, Donald Schön, and Nigel Cross, and their influential books, The Sciences of the Artificial, The Reflective Practitioner, and Designerly Ways of Knowing, respectively. Most attempts to articulate the nature and scope of design thinking have appealed to the works of these theorists either individually or in combination. For this reason, it is important to be familiar with the strengths and limitations of the principal works of these seminal thinkers. The chapter then goes on to discuss historical, cultural, and ethical dimensions of design.