Session: DTM-01-02 - Special Session: Discussions on the Future Directions of DTM

Paper Number: 90003

90003 - Dtm Past, Present, and Future: Reflections on and by the Design Theory and Methodology Research Community 

This paper describes the results of an agenda-setting panel session that took place at the 2021 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences organized by the Design Theory and Methodology (DTM) research community. While the state of design research in engineering design has advanced tremendously in the last thirty-five years since the formation of the DTM community, reflecting on the successes and challenges faced by this community revealed several key directions and opportunities that this community is well positioned to take. Namely, panelists and audience members in the session identified five new agenda items that have the potential to further strengthen research on Design Theory and Methodology: 1) Ethics, Equity, and Justice-focused design research, 2) Design for Sustainability research programs, and 3) Research on Computational Agents as team members in the design process,4) Building new theories from research conducted on Design Theory and Methodology, and 5) Focus on inclusive excellence in the review process of new and cross-disciplinary research. These agenda items as well as reflections on the history and legacy of the Design Theory and Methodology research community on the evolution of design research more broadly are discussed in this paper. The results of the panel session provide directions for next-generation design theory and methodology research that is effective, inclusive, and impactful. 

Presenting Author: Christine Toh University of Nebraska at Omaha

Presenting Author Biography: Christine Toh is an Assistant Professor of IT Innovation in the School of Interdisciplinary Informatics (Si2), in the College of Information Science and Technology in the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO). She co-directs the research group the BRIDGE lab, and conducts research that studies how emerging technology is shaping the field of design by investigating how individuals and teams of designers make decisions in the early stages of design.

Authors:

Christine Toh University of Nebraska at Omaha
Jonathan Cagan Carnegie Mellon University
Kate Fu University of Wisconsin-Madison
Dan Mcadams Texas A&M University
Christopher Mccomb Carnegie Mellon University
Warren Seering Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Deborah Thurston University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Kristin Wood University of Colorado Denver