The Significance of Asking the Question "What is Design?"(<Special Issue>What is "What's the Design"?)

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The

Significance

ot

Asking

theQuestion

"What

is

Design?"

TakeshiSUNAGA

TamaArtUniversity

1.Introduction

lstarted studying

desjgn

at university,Aftera short whj]e,1 became able to make things with my own hands,and to

express the

torm

thatlhadinmy heada$ images.While[was

acquiringthoseskili$,a_{questiongradua[ly}emerged insideme,

Thatquestion was `'l

wonder why that

form

was expressed?''

Overtime,that

_question

expanded lntothequestion

"What

is

design?"

What was itthat1was seeking when 1_posedthatquestjon

backthen? Itwas afact thatjteltthatitwas notenough tomake things

_iust

byu$ing my hands,a rulerand acompass.

Why

did

1

thinkthat1wanted totryand make thingsusing thetoolcalled thinking?Atthattime,1must inavehadthoughts likethese: i want to ask the _question''What _i$

making?'' 1want tohave friendswhom 1can sound out, and a _placewhere 1can ask that

question.

However,

1

was notableto

find

a

tormal

placeinthe

university education system at that time or in my design

practicesinthefieldwhere 1was abletogiveserious thought to

thatquestion.

Inthispaper,lwillpresentthisquestionand relate my

persona[experiences asIsought the answer to it.Iwill then move on toconsidering thesignjficance ofquestioningwhat

designis.

2.Learning Design

The reason why this_questionarose isdue totheexistence of

friendsinmy highschoo[ days who became mirrors that reflectedme. Atthattime,my friendsalso _pursuedvar[ous

fieldsof learnjngintheir respective locations,and were

respectivelyconstructingtheirlearning,When 1met with them,1

oftenli$tenedtotheirstories and also toldthem things about myself.

"Mmmm,

1draw sketches and plans,and 1am creating various things...ltisvery interesting,"_{Words likethat,}words

thatdidnot make sense even tome, came forthfrom my ljps.

Drawingsketches afid _plansare the means otdesign.Creating

thingsare thegoalsof design.However, when we draw

something, what on eartharethedesign_problemsthatwe are

dealingwlth?Whenwedrawsomething,whatarewecreatlng?

Even when lposed thatkind of _questionto a design

professor,ldidnot _getthe answer 1vvanted. Draw sketches,

draw plans, create thingssomehow or other,That kjnd of

patterncontinued dayafter day.Atthattime,1begantothink

thatIshould start over and $tudy something else. Designis work thatconsiders only thesurface of a thing,thearranging of

theappearanceofthetargetobject.

Ifde$ignisonlythat,thentheworkthatwecalldesjgnistrivial.

Studying

design

may not

hold

an

important

significancetorme.

1firstbegantothinklikethatduringadiscussion that1hadone

daywith one ofmy seniors.Hiswords cutme tothequick.[CYour

concept ofdesignisnottruedesign.Designlsnotabout that."

To besure, designwork excited us students. We can create an imageof an object thatisnot beforeour eyes, and delineate

thatform.Itisthe coming intobeingof something unknown.

And,itistheshap[ng of thatsomething with one's own hands

intoafunctionaldevice. What isinterestingabout thiswork Is

thatwe cannet say what the_problemsare thatwe are dealing with, butthefe isno doubt thatthey resonate with our concerns.

The _{problemsbeingdealt}with thereare definitelynottrivial problems.Supportedbythose words, thatchange ofmlnd was

borninsideme.

From therelcome tothe_questionof what are the_problems

thatare inherentindesign,lcan sense these _preblemswhen 1 am designingsomething, butwhy isjtthat1cannot explain this

inwords? The

_journey

tosearch forthatanswer began inmy

design _practices,Projects,_graduation,employment-my

journey

in_pursuitofthatanswer contjnued throughoutmy work

as a _profess]onal

designer.

1was abletoobtainsomething like

an answer inthemiddle ota _projectaround seven _yearsafter I

firstasked thequestion `WVhat _isdesign?"

Thatprojectwas thedesignofa _pieceof medical equipment

that 1was in charge of in1978,an electrocardiographic recording instrument _{designed for} use in group medical

examinations, Atthattime,the instrument with a newly built-in

rV().\Mjlksc･iit-･Whatls'What'stheDesign'?

5pecial]ssuueUapnneseSecietyfottheSciemceofDesjgn

voL16-2no622009

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40

computer was called "electrocardiacaieartbeat

processing device".This

_project

was carried out bya team thatconsisted of experts fromfivefieldsunder a _projectmanager. The _project

team consisted of experts inthe fieldsofmarketing, chassis

design,data_processingsoftware, software architectureand

productdesign.Therewere _twoproduct

designers-myself

and

oneofmycolleagues,

lnthe project's

basic

design

phase, we proposed an innovationtothefrontalityoftheinstrument._1netherwords, we

proposedthattheslde with thescreen thatwas used bythe

operator shouid be the frontof the instrumentfrom the

operator's _pointof view. And,we also _proposedthatthe side

facingthe _peoplewho were undergoing the _groupmedical examination should be the trontfrom their_pointef view, An instrumentwithtwofrontpanels-thatwasourproposaL

Thisproposalwas something thatdeveloped out ota survey carried outbytheproductdesignersinwhich we observed a

groupmedical exarnination thatwas performed using current

equipment at an elementary $chool. What we noticed was the anxious expressions on thetacesof the children. When they

enteredtheschoolintirmary,thechi1drenweremetwitharowof

instruments thathad a largenumber ofcables sprouting out of

theirrearpanels,cables that

Iooked

like

snakes, The children

seemed tobe frightenedat thethought othaving one ofthose cablesconnectedtotheirownbodies.

Our ideawas _bornoutofthisrealjzation, 1twas an ideatoran

innovativedesign where the instrumentwould have an

additionaHace turnedtowardthe children undergoing the

medical examination, a designthat newly incorporateda

second front_panel.One answer tomy _question`What _is

design?"appearedinthemeetingtoproposethisdesign.

3.Discovering thatanswer

The presentationofseveral design _proposalsisan important

partof the processinvolved indevelopinga design fora

product.inourtraditionofdesign development, itiscustomary

forthe clienttoselect the finaldesign.The three design proposaisforthatmedical instrumentthatwe _presentedtethe

team members met with theirapprovafi. The next step was the

selection otthebestproposal bytheprojectmanager. We were convinced thatthatwas goingtobethecase.

However,what happened next was something completely

different,something thatwe designershad not experienced

before, The _projectmanager said, "1

want the designersto

fljff).\Mnk=;i Whatis''What'stheDeslgm')

SpecLall/tsugoflapaneseSocietytertbeSdemteorDesign voLl6.2 mo,6Z ZO09

select the bestdesign. We _don'tknow anything about design,

and so thatiswhy we asked _you to_participatein_designingthe

product.''1feltas though _{1hadbeen hit}over thehead with a

baseballbatwhenlheardthesewords.

When 1thoughtabout it,indeeditwas onlythedesignerswho

had carried out the

_group

medical examination survey. The

marketing, chassis design,data

_processing

software and software architecture experts accepted the_proposedtrontality innovation,butcoming up with ideasand then selecting one of

them as the tinal_proposalwas not thejrresponsibility. The

designerscreated those ideas,and so theresponsibility was

theirs.

Thisitselfisone ofthe''problems _that

areinherentindesign".

That iswhat 1realized, Whatis important tous designersisthe

observation of the activities of _people,therealizationof how theycame about, thediscovery ot _problems,and thesolving ot

thoseproblems.These are alldesignproblems that only

designer$dealwith.

The other experts rnade us realize that the very

considerations of designersare designissuesthemselves.

Thatledme tothefollowingverbalized explanation, Namely,

the essence of the _problemsthatare inherentindesigndoes not1ieinthesketchesthatweredrawnorintheformofthething

thatiscompleted, or inother words, the

'[resuits".

Itliesinthe

relatiofiship between _peopleand instruments.The creatjon relationshipitselfisadesignproblem,andthematerializatienof

the relationship thus created intothe formof a thingcalled a

instrumentisthedesignprocess,

When 1realized this,1went tothe company libraryand

searched throughan enormeus amount of design document

files.Sketches,pians,models and photographsotcompleted

works created byolderemployee$ and colleagues, as wellas minutes ofmeetings, are allon filethere.However, amongst

those materials Iwas notable tofindany descriptions,that

is,

designdiscussionsrelatingtothebasisfortheargument of

form,about the "reiationship" _{between thingsand}

people,a concept which should have _beenthenucleus ofthese creations.

However,there had been no language developed to_provide

an `'explanation" _{of the} design

problemsthatare thebasisfor

theargument ofdesigning.The reason forthisisbecausethere

had been no concept or language developed to describe

designitself.Atthattime,lwas convinced ofthis,and teltthat1

needed to obtain the know[edge required to developthe conceptandlanguagetoexplaindesign.

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C[arifyingthedesign _problemreferred toas tthe

relationship

between _peopleand things"

_just

by creating one design after

another isundoubtedly a difficulttask,lnorder to_graspthe

problemsthat

lie

behind

design,

languagethatcan perceive

and explain them isrequired. Furthermore,Ifeltsure thatif therewere another

ditferent

typeof

language,

l

would

be

ab[e

touse ittodirectlydealwithand

_put

togetherdesignproblems. Sothen 1decidedtomove the locationforconsidering those

thingsfromthedesignfrontlinetograduateschool.Atthattime,

1started activities toward constructing a study of designthat

would clarifytheway inwhjch design_problemscame about,

This kind of personal experiepce islinkedtomy current activities of deve]opinga new frameworktocoordinate design education, research and _practice,and a framework where

conceptandlanguagegohandinhandwiththecreationofform 1nthemidst ofal[this,[recently started torealize $omething.

Thatsomething isthenew wal1 that1have come up against in

the midst of perceiving and clarifying

design

_problerns.

Language thatcan

_perceive

and explain designclarifiesthe

issuesinherentindesign.However,therejsa

d"emma

in

that

unless theaforementioned designactivitiestoreturnittoits

origins donot occur there,thatlanguagewillnotbringtobear

anytangiblemeaningorvaluesocially,

lf1were todescribethisdilemmaas anactualissuethat1am

currently facingitwould beas follows,Forexample, attheinitial stage of adesigneducationa[ curriculum, even ifwe determine what thedesign_problemsare and offerthestudents a concept and language as knowledge to deal with various design

problems,most ofthem donot show any interest.Ratherthan

descriptionsoftheproblemsthatbecomethenucleusotdesign,

theirinterestliesinexpressing objects as things thatexist

beforetheireyes. Indesign,theact ofexpressiQn isthe

_first

target,and, inthe same way, itisa]so design'suMmate target,

Moreover,

the

_design

students'interestalways liesintheactof expresslon.

The explaining of design _problems isalways linkedto

expressing things regarding design,That has become the

premi$eforasking what design1$.Thislsthe contention otthis

paper,and 1would 1iketodiscussthisinthesecond half.

4. Doing and Knowing

lntheirconcept of

"Situated

Learning", Brown, Collinsand

Duguididentifytheseparation between 'ivvhat _isleamed" and tthow _itiearned

and used". Intheir argument, they draw

ii

attention tothe_problemthat"knowing''

and "doing"

are handled as completely separate jssues.Thefollowing_quotationiswhat

theyasse rt

_[1].

Many methods of didacticeducation assume a separation

between knowingand doing,treatingknowledgeas an integral,

self-sufficientsubstance, theoretically

independent

of the situations inwhich itis learned and used.･･･The actMty in which knowledgeis

developed

and deployedisnot separable fromorancil[arytolearningandcognitjon[1].

Itwe percejvethelearning ot designthatIiesunderneath these viewpoints of ''knowing'' _and "doing'', _{the characteristic}

inherentinthe learningof design become appaFent. That

characteristicisthatdesignislearnedinthesequenceoft'doing

{trying)",

then "knowing'', _lt

can be saidthatthissequence ot

"creating

something unknown" connotes the essential mechanismofdesign.

From thisviewpoint, 1would liketo interpretmy _per$onal

experience mentioned earlier as follows,Namely,ina design educationa1program,studentsgradual[ybecomeabletocreate

designs

while "doing". _Then,the

questionof what is

design

manifests itselt,That is the _graspingof design_problems

through"knowing'i

and thedesireto

develop

design

from

that

knowledge. After 1had

_graduated

school and had applied

myself topracticingdesignthrough''doing", ₁

grasped

the

answer tomy question one day at the designfront[ine.That

revelation was thatdesignisthecreating ofa relationship

between the artifacts produced and the people who are

affectedbytheartifacts,

"Doing" seeks "knowing]]. _A

concept thathasbeen _produced from"knowing" _is

once again embodied through "doing" and realized as actual objects and things.Thesetwo acts are 1inked

toforma whole.

However,

thestatus quo isthatthe

field

of

designhas

"doing"

atitscenter, and

"knowing']

isnotincluded in

thatprocess.

A

largenumber of universities

have

failed

to

expand theirdesign educational _programsto include

"knowing".

tt_goe$without saying that_thisstatusquo

is

in

need ofreform.

However,_profoundthought willneed tobe _giventohow _these twotypesofintelligencecanbeincorporated.

1wonder why the fieldof designhas "doing" _at its_center. Becomingabletocreatethingsasdesignissimilartobecoming

abletoridea bicyc[eorbecomingable teski.Thissimilarity lies

inthefactthattheperson attracted tothe action in_question

becomes able todo itthrough using hisor herown body and

actually tryingtodoit.

j'V.r).ijb"X"=.t- Whatis''VVhat'stheDesigm'7 SpedalFssueoflnpuneseSoc/letyfo/theSciencedDesig"

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Learningsuch ski[Isinthe reverse order isdifficult.For

example, very few peoplecan become able toridea bicycle

without any _practice

just

from

theknowledge_gainedbyreading

aboutthestructureofabicycle.

You gripthe handlebarsof _yourvery own bicyclethat_you

havewanted fora longtimeand havefinally_gotten,You then straddle it,and _propelitforward.You can only become ab[e to

ride abicyclebytryingtoride it.Yes,riding abicycle,skiing and creating designsare allachieved through working at "doing" _it. Surelyitisnatural tostart by"doing" _in

order tobecome able to

dothosethings.

And, when _{you gradually}become able toride _yourbicycle,

you starttothinkahead about enjoying yourbicycle,about

riding _itsomewhere with someone, about how to ride it. Questionsemerge, Fromthatpoint,apersonwho hasa bicycle

encounters theessence ot a bicycleas a mobile tool and

becomes fondof it.Thusbeginsa Iifestylewhere the bicycleis

widely u$ed. The design

process

isthe$ame.

Therefore,itisimportanttoplacetheasking of the _question

"ftrVhat _isdesign?"

within thedomain where designis

done,

Design that starts from `[dolng'7 _leadsto

''knowing",

and encounters the_problemthatisitsessence.

It

deals

withthose problemsthemselves, and thisleadstoadesign that_putsthem together.The knowledge thathas been _puttogether thereis

once again returned tothedesignas '`doing". _{Then forthefirst}

time

"knowing"

and

[[doing"

iinkthe design,resuiting inthe

designbeingbroughtuptoahigherdimensionas"doing".

Thatisa designwhere that

process

ismanifested together

with the results. However, itisnot easy toexternalize or make visible the_processesofthought and action thatdevelopwithin

adesigner'swork. The "knowing"

partofadesign isnothing but

theuse of words to clarify boththe flowof the thoughts and

discussionsof the_peoplewho take _partinthedesign_process,

and _phenomena thatarise and disappearsuch as the_problems

thatcan be _perceivedthere.Itthose things become clear, in addition to the_productsthatare thoughtup and broughtinto

being,afurtherproductcalled theknowledgeofdesignissure tospread outinto society.

5.Piacing "knowing" _inside"deing"

There are two _questionsinvolvedinthetheme of this_paper

tThesignificanceofaskingthequestion'WVhatisdesign?"",

The first_questionseeks toknow what thetargetofdesignis,

and toknow how designdesignsthattarget.The acquisition of

rif-rt.VMsc#ik=-Whatls'WhHVstheDesig/,'? SpeciallssueoflapaneseSocietyfoi±heSdenceofDeslg"

vol.16-?. tu62 2009

'

thatknowledge becomes the substance forexplaining what

designis,However,thatexplanation it$elfisnot directlylinked

toErdoing" _des]gn,The

questioningofdesignbyno means end$

therewhen theanswer tothatfirst_questionisobtained. That

factisexpressed intheabove-mentioned example ofa bicycle.

You can know what a

bicycle

iswithout riding

it.

However,

a

bicycleexists for_peopletoride it,not for_peopletoknow what a

bicycleis.

Design is ali about doing design in this society, and

pre$entingtheresulting _productstosociety.Inotherwords, the

asking of the _question`flNhat _{isdesign?" and the} "knowtng"

aboutdesigntromthatquestionlinksdesignto"doing",whether

we likeitor not. Here,we can see theshape of theanswer to

thesecond _question.

1nother words, thesignificance of_questioningwhat designis can befoundhere.Itcan besaid thatthatsignificance isthe

asking ofthis_questioninorder toreturn the

''knowing"

ot

[What

isdesign''thatwas discoveredthroughdolngdesigntoE'doing" design,and tomove fromtheretothinkingup and bringingjnto

beingobjects and things as thefruitsot

design

ina higher

dimension.

In

order toask the second _question,

it

is

necessary to

construct a mechanism forreturning

"knowing"

to

"doing'"

and a

placefor_practicingthat.There, thetruemeaning of

"knowing''

desjgn and itsvalue should become apparent, Knowledge is bornoutofquestieningtherealworldofiifestylesandwork,and

isthereforthepurposeofonce again beingreturnedtothatreal world,And so, 1believethatwe must construct thestudy of

designas knowiedgethatcontains amechanism forreturning it

totherealworld.

Indoingthat,designcreates what thescheme ofthingsinthe reaiworld should be,and itsmission isactuallyarranging that

scheme of things.That iswhat designis,And, by adding

"knowing" _toi`doing" _indesign,

at Iasta real designcan be

constructed.Thatdesignisundoubtedlynotonlythecreationof

thedesigner,butshould also become theintelligenceotthe peoplewho are universally tryingtoshape theirown society. I

believethatconstructinga study ofdesignconsists of making

thedoing ofdesignthe nucleus ofthestudy.

Acknowledgements

The motivation forwritingthispaperwas triggered bythe di$cussions that took _placeinthe StudyGroup of Des[gn

Knowledge meetings thatwere he[din2007and 2008.Iwould

L

NII-Electronic Library Service particularlyliketothankHideyukiNakajima,HaruyukiFujii,and

Masaki Suwa, whose discussionsrelating totheirupcoming

Study of Synthesis_gave me a valuable hint,namely the

realizationthattherewas significanceinlookjngbackover my

own design_practices

[2].

Iwould also liketo express my

gratitude

toToshiharuTauraand YukariNagai,fromwhom 1 ebtained thetheme of knowing design,and then once again asking what isdes[gnitself,or inother words, asking a _question.

Theircontribution _providedme with an opportunity to_putallmy

thoughts together in this _paper.The information

design

research carried out forthisstudy hasbeen supported in_part

bytheCoreResearchforEvoiutionalScienceand Technology

(CREST)

projectoftheJapanScienceand Technology Agency

(JST).

Reference

1.Brown,

J.

S,,

Collin$,A.,Duguid, P,

(1989)

Situated

Cognitionand the Cultureof Learning,Educatienal

Researcher,

18(1),32-42

2.Nakashima, H,

(2009)

Methodology and a discjplinetor

$yntheticresearch

-What

issynthesiology?-, Synthesiology

EnglishEdition,1(4},282-290,AIST.

fifIY#HscllkS-Wha ±ls'What'stheDesign'? SpedallssNeeflapafieseSocietyfoFtheScienceofDesign

voL16-2no.62200!)