___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ____________________________________________ Peter Troxler

Dance?
Dance!
The contribution of practice-
driven design research to
the ballet of disciplines
Peter Troxler

This article invites applied design research to a new chal- 1. Bruce Archer, “Design
lenge: the “dance of the disciplines.” It begins with an as a Discipline,” Design
Studies 1, no. 1 (1 July
attempt to discern the elements of applied design research. 1979): 17–20. https://
doi.org/10.1016/0142-
It continues with a set of examples to display the relevance 694X(79)90023–1.

of these elements. And it concludes with a call to reclaim

2. Nigel Cross,
design and reintroduce it in transdisciplinary practice “Designerly Ways
of Knowing,” Design
through boundary crossing, the “dance of the disciplines.” Studies 3, no. 4 (1982):
221–27. https:// doi.
org/10.1016/0142-
694X(82)90040–0.
Discern
Design, since Archer 1 and Cross, 2 is understood respec-
tively as its own “discipline” and an “area of education” –
distinct from the two more traditional areas of education in
science on the one hand, and arts and humanities on the
other – with its own study subject, its own goals, values, and
methods:

• Design studies the man-made world, whereas science

studies the natural world and the humanities the human
experience.
• Design seeks appropriateness, while science seeks truth
and humanities justice.

63
Dance? Dance! _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _______________________________________________________
• Design values practicality, ingenuity, and empathy. In
3. Merriam-Webster.
Research. In www.merri- contrast, the values in science are objectivity, rationality,
am-webster.com, retrieved
31 January 2021, from and neutrality; in the humanities, they are subjectivity,
https://www.merriam-web-
ster.com/dictionary/ imagination, and commitment.
research.
• Design methods are modelling, pattern-formation, and
4. OECD, Frascati Manual synthesis; science methods are controlled experiment,
2015: Guidelines for
Collecting and Reporting
classification, and analysis; humanities methods are met-
Data on Research and aphor, criticism, and evaluation.
Experimental Development,
the Measurement of
Scientific, Technological and Research is understood to be the production of knowledge,
Innovation Activities (Paris:
OECD Publishing, 2015). the

5. Daniel Fallman studious inquiry or examination, especially investigation or

and Erik Stolterman,
“Establishing Criteria experimentation aimed at the discovery and interpretation
of Rigor and Relevance
in Interaction Design of facts, revision of accepted theories or laws in the light of
Research,” Proceedings of
Create10 – The Interaction new facts, or practical application of such new or revised
Design Conference (2010).
theories or laws. 3
6. Peter Miller,
“Reliability,” in The SAGE Such “studious inquiry” is “creative and systematic.” 4 Creative
Encyclopedia of Qualitative
Research (Thousand Oaks, implies that research can produce new findings based on
CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.,
2008): 753–754.
original, not obvious concepts or hypotheses, of which the
final outcome is uncertain. Systematic requires research to
7. Peter Miller, “Validity,”
in The SAGE Encyclopedia
be conducted in a planned way that documents the steps
of Qualitative Research taken and the outcomes achieved. Systematic also implies
(Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE
Publications, Inc., 2008): that the results could be possibly reproduced and used
909–910.
elsewhere. Systematic research is rigorous and relevant. 5
8. Ministerie van Typically, systematicity of research is operationalized as
Binnenlandse Zaken en
Koninkrijksrelaties, Wet validity and reliability of research. Validity stands for the
op het Hoger Onderwijs
en Wetenschappelijk “goodness” or “soundness” of a study. However, it cannot be
Onderzoek, retrieved 9
February 2021, https:// expressed in global criteria except in quantitative, positivist
wetten.overheid.nl/
BWBR0005682/2021–01–01.
research tradition, so it has to be described according to the
purpose and methods of a given design study. 6 Reliability is
9. Vereniging
van Hogescholen, the “dependability,” “consistence” and often “repeatability” of
Brancheprotocol a study. Again, the diversity in many areas of research
Kwaliteitszorg Onderzoek
(October 2015). requires a case-by-case approach. 7

Applied (with regards to research) signifies that applied

design research is prompted by and feeds straight back into
professional design practice. In the Netherlands, there is a
legal difference between “academic research,” carried out at
universities, and “research directed at professional practice”
at universities of applied sciences. This distinction is instru-

64 mental for the distribution of government funding for

___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ____________________________________________ Peter Troxler

research – namely only for research at universities. 8 As

such, applied research is much closer to the actual applica-
tions of the new knowledge it produces, thus requiring little
extra “technology transfer” efforts. Applied design research
is “rooted in professional design practice. Applied design
research is prompted by professional design practice (real-life
situations), in both profit and non-profit sectors. Applied design
research generates knowledge, insights and products that
contribute to solving problems in professional design practice
and developing this practice.”9

Applied design research, therefore, is the creative and sys-

tematic production of knowledge that is prompted by and
feeds right back into shaping the man-made world through
modelling, pattern-formation, and synthesis, achieving
appropriate results that can be tested for practicality, inge-
nuity, and empathy.

Display
In terms of applied, applied design research garners its
relevance from focusing on the “applied” in design research
– and this is not just semantics. Applied design research
takes its cues from design practice, not only from the tribu-
lations of mainstream practice but from the fringes where
investigation and experimentation are required to develop
the technique.

Figure 1
Open Design:
Demonstration of the
open-source Wiki House
in Vienna, 2015. Photo:
© 2015 Claudia Garad
(cc-by-sa), retrieved
from https://commons.
wikimedia.org/w/index.
php?title=File:Wiki-
House_Wien_Eröffnung_
II.jpg&oldid=493867214

65
Dance? Dance! _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _______________________________________________________
For example, when the concept of open design
10. Bas van Abel, Roel
Klaassen, Lucas Evers, Peter emerged, 10 11 designers were baffled by the idea that they
Troxler, Open Design Now:
Why Design Cannot Remain could seriously be required to even think of relinquishing the
Exclusive (Amsterdam: BIS
Publishers, 2011). business model they believed they were thriving on –
earning royalties on their “intellectual property.” Through
11. Peter Troxler, “The
Beginning of a Beginning of investigation 12 13 and experimentation 14 – which is still
the Beginning of a Trend,”
in Bas van Abel, Roel ongoing 15 – researchers tried to approach the phenome-
Klaassen, Lucas Evers, Peter
Troxler, Open Design Now: non, understand the frictions and develop ways to “do open
design.”
Why Design Cannot Remain
Exclusive (Amsterdam: BIS
Publishers, 2011).
In terms of design, applied design research garners its
12. Peter Troxler and Pa-
tricia Wolf, “Look Who’s Act- relevance from focusing on design approaches in applied
ing! Applying Actor Network research. As such, it can be related to design as the practice
Theory for Studying Knowl-
edge Share in a Co-Design of design professions and their development – architec-
Project, International Journal
of Actor-Network Theory and ture, landscape, furniture, fashion, light, product, package,
Technological Innovation 7,
no. 3 (2015): 15–33. graphic, web and so forth, or it can be related to design
13. Patricia Wolf and
in other practices, such as organization design, research
Peter Troxler, “Communi- design, and education design, and studying the contribu-
ty-Based Business Models:
Insights From an Emerging tions of design by organizing, researching or teaching the
Maker Economy,” Interac-
tion Design and Architec- subject of the man-made world.
ture(s) 30 (2016): 75–94.

14. Peter Troxler, “Building

For example, many educators express the view that with the
Open Design as a Com- teaching methods and school systems – many of which stem
mons,” in Loes Bogers and
Letizia Chiappini, The Critical from the late 19th and early 20th century 16 – they are
Makers Reader: (Un)Learning
Technology, (Amsterdam: In- insufficiently equipped to teach in the supposedly VUCA 17
stitute of Network Cultures,
2019): 2018–226. environment of the early 21st century. 18 A design approach
to educational processes, devised by a designer, developed
15. Roland Jochem, “The
Future of Product Creation by teachers, and encouraged by school administrators,
is Open and Commu-
nity-Based,” Research promises to “transform education on a small scale but with a
Outreach 113 (2020): 6–9,
https://doi.org/10.32907/ big impact.” 19
RO-113–69.

16. Robert Anderson,

European Universities From
the Enlightenment to 1914
(Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 2004).

Figure 2
Designing Education:
Manon Mostert – van der
Sar (right) working with
educators in Utrecht, 2019.
Photo: Roy Borghouts.

66
___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ____________________________________________ Peter Troxler

In terms of research, applied design research garners its

17. VUCA is an acronym
relevance from creatively and systematically producing new which stands for Volatility,
Uncertainty, Complexity,
knowledge in the field of design – using designerly methods Ambiguity.

such as modelling, pattern-formation, and synthesis, also 18. Ken Robinson, Out
known as “abduction” 20 – and validating the research of Our Minds, the Power of
Being Creative (Hoboken NJ:
results by ascertaining that they are useful in a given prac- Wiley, 2011).

tice, that they are clever and original for that practice, and 19. Manon Mostert – Van
der Sar, Hey Teacher, Find
that they are sensitive towards and in rapport with the Your Inner Designer (Am-
practice. sterdam: Boom Publishers,
2019).

For example, after maker spaces in libraries started to 20. Lauri Koskela, Sami
Paavola, Ehud Kroll, “The
emerge, 21 the National Library of the Netherlands wanted to Role of Abduction in
Production of New Ideas
investigate if there was indeed a way forward for this new in Design,” in Pieter E.
concept as part of their digital strategy. A design research Vermaas and Stéphane Vial
(Eds.), Advancements in the
project was set up that studied that question and came up Philosophy of Design (Spring-
er International Publishing,
– through several design sessions – with a roadmap, outlin- 2018): 153–183, https://
doi.org/10.1007/978–3-
ing three lines of development – policy development, 319–73302–9_8.
curriculum development, and community development. 22 21. Theresa Willingham
This roadmap was then validated. and Jeroen De Boer,
Makerspaces in Libraries,
Library Technology Essentials
4 (Lanham MD: Rowman &
Littlefield Publishers, 2015).
Design
22. Peter Troxler, Eva Viss-
Design and design research (applied or not) have come a er and Maarten Hennekes,
Roadmap Makerplaatsen.
long way since emerging from engineering and “trying to Van Knutselen 2.0 Naar
Leren met 21ste Eeuwse
bend the methods of operational research and management Vaardigheden, (Rotterdam:
techniques to design purposes.” 23 The past five decades Kenniscentrum Creating
010, 2018).
have seen design growing into a discipline of its own – in
23. Bruce Archer, “Design
education, as a profession – eventually a reflective one. 24 as a Discipline,” Design
Endless discussion ensued about distinctive definitions of Studies 1, no. 1 (1 July
1979): 17–20. https://
doi.org/10.1016/0142-
694X(79)90023–1: 17.

24. Donald Schön, The

Reflective Practitioner: How
Professionals Think in Action
(New York, Basic Books,
1984).

Figure 3
Validating the roadmap for
library maker spaces with
(from left to right) library,
maker and space profes-
sionals at the National
Library, The Hague, 2018.
Photo: © 2018 Peter
Troxler.

67
Dance? Dance! _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _______________________________________________________
research about, through, from, in, and for design, their
25. Nigel Cross, “From a
Design Science to a Design subtle nuances enshrined in the programs of conferences,
Discipline: Understanding
Designerly Ways of Knowing the editorial lines of journals, and professional societies’
and Thinking,” In Design
Research Now: Essays and collective identities. 25 More variations and deep thoughts
Selected Projects, ed. Ralf
Michel (Basel: Birkhäuser, became the material for myriads of introductory chapters of
2007): 41–54. https://doi. PhD theses all around the globe.
org/10.1007/978–3-7643–
8472–2_3.
It is time for design research professionals to leave that
26. Harold G. Nelson
and Erik Stolterman, discussion there – for that is where it belongs – and move on
The Design Way, Second
Edition. Intentional Change
and continue to actually do design research, in extension to
in an Unpredictable World how Nelson and Stolterman 26 summarize what designers
(Cambridge, MA: The MIT
Press, 2012). do:
27. Modified from Nelson
and Stolterman, 2012, p.
“Design researchers are heavily invested in understanding,
243, modifications shown developing and using good design processes and realizing
as emphasis.
desired outcomes. In design inquiry, the process is aimed by
28. Holger Rhinow, Eva design intention – desiderata and new knowledge. The right
Köppen, Christoph Meinel,
“Design Prototypes as process going in the right direction will reach the right outcome,
Boundary Objects in
Innovation Processes,” both in products and the knowledge enshrined in them and
in Proceedings of the
Design Research Society distilled from the process. In other words, desired outcomes
International Conference
(Bangkok, July 2012): are made visible and communicable and are successfully
1581–1590.
achieved with mindful, intentional aiming. Process and outcome
29. Lucy Suchman, are entwined and equally important to the designer and the
“Working Relations of
Technology Production and
design researcher. A good process, properly aimed in the right
Use,” Computer Supported direction, reveals the answer to the question: What (about)
Cooperative Work 2, no. 1
(1994): 21–39. https://doi. design is desired to be made real?” 27
org/10.1007/BF00749282.

Two things happened in the past years to design that are

essential signals that design and, with it, design research,
have to move on and move differently. One, design got
highjacked by management consultants as “design thinking.”
Designers need to reclaim design thinking as their profes-
sional way to make the desired reality. Two, designers like
to understand their discipline as ultimately interdisciplinary
– the idea that a designer has insights in all the disciplines
(or can gain that quickly) and solves all their problems. This
is an attitude that is not so different from that of manage-
ment consultants, and is often a sign of blissful ignorance
or, worse, offensive arrogance. Designers need to return to
design to make the desired real.

68
___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ____________________________________________ Peter Troxler

Making the desired real, however, is not a solo discipline.

Designers know how to use artifacts as boundary objects 28
to bring different parties and stakeholders together to
develop a common language about the desired outcome,
the object of a collective process of problem-solving, of Figure 4
delivering desiderata – the “what” in design. In working Research as visualised
in Violeta Clemente,
together with other disciplines in the entire design process, Katja Tschimmel &
Fátima Pombo, “A
however, boundary objects alone are insufficient. Future Scenario for a
Methodological Approach
Differences in how and why disciplinary practices are applied to PhD Design
Research. Development
performed become evident and need to be addressed. of an Analytical Canvas,”
The Design Journal 20
Fruitful collaboration in such a transdisciplinary practice (September 2017): 792–802,
emerges in a development called “boundary crossing.” 29 https://doi.org/
10.1080/14606925.
2017.1353025.

69
Dance? Dance! _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _______________________________________________________
transform

reflect

coordinate

Figure 5
Boundary crossing in identify
transdisciplinary work.

Boundary crossing is the dance of the disciplines (…) to the

rhythm of:

(a) identifying the communalities and differences by making

them explicit;

(b) coordinating the collaboration to primarily appreciate

and to efficiently address the problem at hand, from
what forms a common understanding;

(c) reflecting the differences and reframing the viewpoints

based on the multiplicity of perspectives; and

(d) transforming and bridging those different perspectives so

that they lead to the new solutions that would not have
been possible without the transdisciplinary collaboration.

Boundary crossing is creating power and direction from the

communalities and forming new ideas from the generative
combination of the difference. 30

70
___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ____________________________________________ Peter Troxler

Boundary crossing in transdisciplinary work is the new

30. Mortaza S. Bargh
challenge for applied design research: and Peter Troxler, “Digital
Transformations and Their
Design – Renewal of the
• What are designerly ways of knowing in transdisciplinary Socio-Technical Approach,”
in Hoger Beroepsonderwijs in
settings? 2030. Toekomstverkenningen
en Scenario’s vanuit
• What are design practices and processes of boundary Hogeschool Rotterdam, eds.
Daan Gijsbertse, Arjen
crossing? van Klink, Kees Machielse,
• What are the artifacts (form and configuration) that foster Jeroen Timmermans
(Rotterdam: Hogeschool
boundary crossing beyond the “what”? Rotterdam Uitgeverij, 2020):
326–369.
It is important to answer these questions from within design
and gradually interweave them with the answers from other
disciplines to deepen the insights into the contribution of
design and communicate it to the outside.

Peter
Troxler
Rotterdam University
of Applied Sciences
Dr. Peter Troxler is professor of Revolution in Manufacturing
at Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences. He obtained
his PhD at the ETH Zurich, at the cutting edge of occupa-
tional psychology and business administration, specializing
in organisation design. He has worked as a management
consultant at a design consultancy firm in Switzerland
(1997–2018), as a research manager in artificial intelligence
at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland (2001–2004), and as
a senior project manager and freelance executive editor at
Waag in Amsterdam (2007–2010). He was also the founder,
mentor and inspirator for many Fab Labs in Europe (2009–
2013). He worked as a producer for an independent theatre

71
group in Switzerland (1994–2001), and was the director of a
critical artistic research collective in Aberdeen (2003–2007).