Collaborative Research: TheDesignExchange, an Interactive Portal for the Design Community of Practice

这项合作研究计划的目的是发展和维持一个互动的网页门户网站TheDesignExchange，以方便收集、分析和广泛使用进行设计研究的方法。设计研究已经被证明对工程产品的质量和成功有很大的影响。然而，设计研究不属于单一学科的知识体系，设计交流填补了组织不同的设计研究方法的需求，发展设计教育者和实践者的社区来评估这些方法，并教育下一代的设计创新者。TheDesignExchange提供了一个结构来收集当今使用的许多设计方法、它们的起源和用途。它还将设计方法与设计问题相匹配，并帮助设计师在何时应用这些方法时做出明智的决定。该门户支持整个设计过程，为教育工作者和从业者提供了经过验证的多功能工具库。TheDesignExchange旨在成为最大的设计研究方法公共图书馆。这些方法涵盖了广泛的社区和应用，例如，包括为服务不足的社区设计最有效的方法。来自不同背景和遗产的教师、本科生和研究生，以及来自行业、非营利组织和政府设计团体的从业者和领导者，都参与了这项研究。研究人员利用从TheDesignExchange获得的知识来识别和教授与各种方法相关的潜在技能，为应届毕业生提供如何，为什么以及何时应用特定设计研究方法的更灵活的理解。

The objective of this collaborative research project is to develop and maintain an interactive web portal, TheDesignExchange, to facilitate the capture, analysis and widespread use of methods for conducting design research. The study of design has been shown to have high impact on the quality and success of engineered products. However, design research does not fall into a single disciplinary body of knowledge, and TheDesignExchange fills a need to organize disparate design research methods, develop a community of design educators and practitioners to evaluate those methods, and educate the next generation of design innovators. TheDesignExchange provides a structure to collect the many design methods in use today, their origins, and use. It also will match design methods to design problems and help designers make informed decisions about when to apply these methods. The portal supports the entire design process, providing educators and practitioners alike with a versatile library of proven tools. TheDesignExchange aims to be the largest public library of design research methods. The methods cover a wide range of communities and applications, including, for example, methods most effective for design for under-served communities. Faculty, undergraduates and graduate students of diverse backgrounds and heritage participate in this research, as well as practitioners and leaders from industry, non-profit and government design groups. The researchers leverage knowledge gained from TheDesignExchange to identify and teach the underlying skills associated with the various methods, providing recent graduates a more fluid understanding of how, why, and when to apply specific design research methods.