Designing Design Resources: From Contents to Tools

Abstract

This paper presents the design process and implementation of a design knowledge repository. In recent years, design evolved into a broad discipline with a large application field. From an educational point of view, this design expansion brings the need to rebuild design contents and resources for both practitioners and learners. We designed and developed a repository of design resources. The design process followed a user-centered design approach, taking into account different types of users with learning needs. Design contents were analyzed taking into account the new challenges and disciplines of design and the educational needs of practitioners and learners. Three main types of design contents were identified and also the need to provide tools instead of simply contents, that is, up-to-date and actionable resources that, at the same time, lead to reflection and critical thinking. These tools were arranged into a toolbox, a knowledge repository that became a toolkit. The toolkit provides an adaptable navigation system that allows either direct access or exploration of the available tools.