Moving Forwards

After eight years in the role, this is my final issue as Editor of the Design Journal, and rewardingly, it is a particularly full issue, containing an introductory article by the Editorial Team, 10 full articles, a PhD Study Report and an Exhibition Review. So, this editorial will, of necessity, discuss each paper only briefly as there is much to get through. Firstly, though, I would of course like to take this opportunity to say how much I have enjoyed my tenure as Editor, and give my heartfelt thanks to my Associate Editor Louise Valentine and particularly to our Editorial Assistant Kirsty Christer, who has gone above and beyond expectations since taking on the role. Indeed, my Editorship would not have been possible without her. My thanks also go to all of the Journal’s Editorial Board, and all of the team at Taylor & Francis (as well as those at previous publishers of the Journal) for their unwavering support.

The gradual expansion of the Journal into its current form over the course of our time as an editing team is a key discussion in the introductory article ‘All Change: Reflections from the editors: 2014 to 2021’, in which we (Atkinson, Christer and Valentine) explore the changes in design research and in academic publishing that have taken place since the Journal was founded, and consider implications for the future of the Journal.

As usual, the remaining articles address a wide range of different topics, and yet strands tying the articles together can be found. The first papers discuss ways in which various research and knowledge transfer methods might be enhanced. The first of these, by Marco, Williams, Oliveira and Sinnett, is ‘The Architectural Model as Augmenting a Sensory Ethnography.’ Building on research suggesting that a multi-sensory approach to ethnographic practices can aid the understanding of people’s lives and experiences, this study explores the use of a visual aid in the form of an architectural model to elicit evidence that other methods could not generate from users. Testing the model with five design experts in a ‘design place event’ provoked critical dialogue and all were positive in their view that the use of the model greatly aided sensory ethnography.

In the second article, ‘Transfer of Craft Knowledge to New Product Development through Collaboration between Craftsmen and Designers’, the authors Temeltas and Kaya start with the premise that new product development is highly dependent on the existing knowledge of individuals within a company, and go on to explore how the tacit knowledge of craft practitioners might be transformed into explicit knowledge and transferred to industry. Working with companies in three industries, leather, glass and furniture, exposed the ways in which craftspeople could meaningfully contribute towards the design of industrialized products.

The third article, by Savolainen, is ‘User-Centred Design without Involving Users,’ which uses a case concerning the successful exploitation of user data from previously conducted studies to enable a user-centred design process to be used on a particular project where user involvement was not possible. The study highlights how much useful knowledge a mature company might already have that could be positively used where new data is unavailable.

The next two articles are both concerned with Service Design. Yu’s article ‘Design for Service Implementation’ states that if a new innovative service is to be successfully implemented, then its implementation needs to carefully considered at the service design concept stage. Using an integrative literature study, Yu aimed to holistically conceptualize the relevant topics surrounding service design and service implementation. The resulting framework was used as a basis for interviewing service design practitioners in South Korea about their experiences of service implementation.

Following this, is Kim and Park’s article ‘Design Thinking in the Framework of Visual Thinking and Characterization of Service Design Ideation Methods Using Visual Reasoning Model.’ This study compares well known process models for design practice and design thinking, and finds a number of similarities between them. The authors then suggest that visual thinking formed the foundation of design thinking, and posit that their own Visual Reasoning Model provides a valid framework for devising methods and tools for design thinking. They conclude that going forward, service design should aim to accommodate a continual process of customer-led co-creation.

Wicked problems are the concern of the next two articles. The first, ‘A Visual Tool for Understanding Wicked Problems in Design Research,’ by Suoheima, Tang and Juvonen, raises the question of how effective a design thinking approach is when applied to wicked problems, and explores the use of a particular mapping tool suitable for designers tackling such problems in a co-design context. Their case study involved working with South African youths subjected to a number of wicked problems including unemployment, poverty, drugs and alcohol abuse.

The second, ‘A Framework for Transitioning Designerly Ways’ by Shaw and NIckpour, highlights gaps, issues and patterns that have occurred over 50 years of designing mobility interventions for children – an area in which the majority of problems encountered are wicked ones. Using a ‘reflection-for-transition’ framework identified existing and alternative ‘designerly ways’ employed to address these problems and identify areas for improvements.

Two articles address issues of sustainability. Dan and Østergaard’s ‘Circular Fashion’ asks if and how designers can aid the transition of the fashion design industry in moving from a linear economy towards a circular economy. In their study, interviews with fashion designers and key experts were analysed, revealing three central roles in the transition process (Preventing, Facilitating and Advising) that designers could adopt by expanding their existing knowledge of sustainability issues, and being supported by the requisite institutional changes.

In a more theoretical vein, Bowie and Reyburn’s ‘Revitalizing the Rhetoric of ‘Sustainability’’ introduces the thinking of the rhetorical theorist and socio-cultural critic Kenneth Burke to design theory, and aims to apply his thinking on symbolics disorders to challenge the assumptions that accompany the rhetoric of sustainability, which the authors argue is in need of revitalization.

The final full article and a PhD Study Report address the issue of Entrepreneurship. ‘In Search of Keys to Unlock Young Design Entrepreneurship’ by Ip and Liang describes a study in which young designers in Taiwan were interviewed to explore issues around entrepreneurial intentions in the area of design. An online survey assessed the scale of different variables and found that the attitude towards design entrepreneurship, educational attainment and work experience were the three strongest indicators of entrepreneurial intention. The results suggest design education could concentrate on these elements in order to encourage design entrepreneurship.

The PhD Study Report by Raîche-Savoie is titled ‘From Graphic Designer to Agent of Change: Role Transition through the approach of Entrepreneurial Education’, and examines the pedagogy around graphic design, suggesting that improving the education of enterprise would enable practitioners to move into a more proactive role and make them better able to respond to 21^st century challenges.

This issue is drawn to a close with a review by Geuntae Park of the exhibition ‘Values of Design: China in the Making’ at the V&A Gallery of the Seaworld Culture and Arts Center, Shenzhen, China: ‘The first attempt to understand how changing and evolving values are helping shape what we design, produce and consume.’

Here’s to the future of the Design Journal!