Design Research
Design as research: As an Assistant Professor of Interior Design at USM, part of my role involved earning tenure credits through research. But as you can imagine, there’s little grant funding for interior design. That’s when I discovered a simple yet profound concept: *Design is Research*. In design, we begin with research into the client’s needs and review of precedents. We then develop a hypothesis—our design concept or floor plan—believing it will achieve certain outcomes. The "experiment" is the build-out: Did the design work as intended? Did it meet the physical, emotional, economic, and spiritual needs for success? Or did it fail due to aesthetic issues, functionality, or budget overruns? Thankfully, real-world design research, particularly in peer-reviewed journals, has advanced significantly. We now have evidence. Healthcare design pioneers led the charge by promoting *Evidence-Based Design*, a powerful tool for our field. Follow this page to access articles, blog posts, and insights that articulate the deeper connections between design and well-being—why one design inspires us while another doesn’t, or how clutter can impact both our mental and physical health.
Books and Research
Link | What you will find: | Related books | |
---|---|---|---|
Interior Design Research Methods | Research Gate | Discussion of what constitutes research in design | See also Interaction Design Foundation |
Design with Science | Dr. Sally Augustin | Researched book outlining design concepts by Place Type | See also the book, Designology |
Journal of Interior Design | JID | Peer reviewed Journal about the effects of the interior environment on humans | See also IDEC Journal of Interior Design |
American Society of Interior Designers | ASID Research | A collection of current research in the field of interior design | See also IIDA.org |