Design in the “Real World”: Situating Academic Conceptions of ID Practice

DESIGN IN THE “REAL WORLD” SITUATING ACADEMIC CONCEPTIONS OF ID PRACTICE

COLIN M. GRAY IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY

ELIZABETH BOLING INDIANA UNIVERSITY

Photo  courtesy  of  Marcus  Spiske  https://www.flickr.com/photos/125167502@N02/

SO WHAT IF WE HAD A THEORY FOR EVERY SITUATION?

WE WOULD HAVE MILLIONS OF THEORIES

THEORY PRACTICE

RESEARCHER DESIGNER

ENACTED IN

DESIGNER-PROOF

THEORY PRACTICE

RESEARCHER DESIGNER

OPPORTUNISTICALLY DRAW FROM

UTILITY OF THEORY FOR PRACTICE

WE NEED TO DIVORCE THEORY FROM METHOD

THEORY V. METHOD

PERFORMANCE

4C/ID MODEL (VAN MERRIËNBOER & KIRSCHNER

PRODUCT/SYSTEM

FUNCTIONAL DECOMPOSITION

THEORY PRACTICE

RESEARCHER DESIGNER

METHOD ALLOWS THE DESIGNER

TO USE

METHODS ARE TOOLS

WHAT IS “DESIGN THEORY”

WHAT IS “DESIGN THEORY”

• Theory and method are separate (Friedman, 2003)

• Theory and tacit knowledge about use are separate issues (Dunne, 1997; Polanyi, 1966)

• Theory can tell us how phenomena occur, but it cannot tell us when we should do one thing over another, such as how to prioritize or deal with constraints in a particular design context (Lawson & Dorst, 2009; Nelson & Stolterman, 2012)

HOW DOES IDT DESCRIBE DESIGN THEORY?

• Describe

• Explain

• Generative (and often prescriptive)

• Describes “methods and how to use them” (Reigeluth & Carr-Chellman, p. 7, emphasis in original)

“[instructional design theory is] a set of design theories that pertain to various aspects of instruction” (Reigeluth & Carr-Chellman, p. 8)

DESIGN THEORY

Instructional Design Theory

HOW DOES IDT DESCRIBE DESIGN THEORY?

ALL IS NOT AS IT SEEMS

(Gray, Stolterman, & Siegel, 2014)

“We refer here to the unarticulated and unexamined means by which eclectic practices unfold in design work; or stated differently, we

are concerned that merely claiming one’s practices to be eclectic, and assuming that this admission satisfactorily clarifies one’s modus

operandi in the design process, obscures fundamental issues regarding the nature of one’s design decisions in a given situation and masks—

often unintentionally—the values, assumptions, and judgments that guide such choices…

(Yanchar & Gabbitas, 2011, p. 385)

…Put more bluntly, we are concerned that, in the name of eclecticism, little or no careful attention need be paid to the underlying means by which diverse techniques are selected and employed, and, by extension, little or no attention need be

paid to the means by which design is actually produced.”

(Yanchar & Gabbitas, 2011, p. 385)

EXAMPLES OF DESIGN THEORY

DARKE PRIMARY GENERATOR (Darke, 1979)

DORST & CROSS CO-EVOLUTION OF PROBLEM AND SOLUTION (Dorst & Cross, 2001)

Design activity is fueled by theoretical and philosophical understanding,

enacted in ways that are unique to the individual designer,

representing a generative/non-deterministic use of

theory and method.

METHODS AREN'T MERELY ENACTED IN PRACTICE

(Fortney & Yamagata-Lynch, 2013; Schwier, Campbell, & Kenny, 2009)

WE DON'T STUDY DESIGN PRACTICE (IN GENERAL)

(Rowland, 1992; Stolterman, 2008)

DESIGN METHODS

WHAT'S NEXT?

• Partnering with practitioners and generating/legitimating design and practical knowledge

• Deconstruction of orthodoxy within IDT scholarship

• Knowledge-building within theory and method epistemologies

THANK YOU

COLINGRAY.ME

• This prescriptionist stance favors the research community in a hegemonic way, causing practitioners to feel cynicism or guilt toward the research literature (Boling et al. 2011)

THE NATURE OF THE TOOL IS INAPPROPRIATE TO THE TASK AND WE HAVE NOT EXAMINED THE TASK

• krippendorf - designer-proof system? pointing at the issue of not just designer or teacher proofing things