The Design Method

THIS book about The Design Method provides a composite statement from different technologies on the nature of design, covering the principal range of activities of the designer, and a relatively unified structure of thought against which the work of the designer may be considered. A review of work and thought on the design process is given, tagether with an appraisal of systematic methods, and an analytical approach to the process of design, with the possibility of its extension by scientific research. The relationships between the behavioural sciences and design are also discussed. Finally, a glossary of design and a substantial, although not comprehensive, biblio- graphy are included.
This pioneering effort provides practising designers with an opportunity to see their work in the round and to gain some new insights. Managers are affered a better comprehension of the problems and outlook of designers, with possible ways to more and better designs. To researchers some new challenges are given, and to industry and consumers at large the promise of a more rational approach to design. The attention of educationists is particularly directed to the fact that there is a design method which is at least as well defined as the scientific method, and poses more human and personal problems in its application. To the youth of today the book offers a rather intellectual glimpse of a world of skill, service and excitement, which is able to absorb to the Iimit the sum of human abilities. It is hoped that it will provide a foundation upon which students of design can build in the future.