Knowledge Base Repository
In addition to research papers, the Design Society is developing several valuable resources for those interested in the study of design. These include a repository of PhD theses, a library of case studies and transcripts of design activities, and an archive of our newsletters. Please note that these resources are accessible exclusively to Design Society members.
Design as Sensemaking: An Autoethnography on the Early Phases of Product Development
Kettunen, Ilkka
Type:
Year:
2014
Editor:
Miko Laakso, Kalevi Ekman
Author:
Series:
NordDESIGN
Institution:
University of Lapland, Finland
Section:
Design theory and practices
Page(s):
480-489
ISBN:
978-1-904670-58-2
Abstract:
This paper provides an autoethnographic account of my personal journey through the early phases of a design process in a product development project that took place in an SME company. I reflect on my story as a design manager of a small team of designers by using Karl Weick’s theory of sensemaking and its properties as a methodological and theoretical perspective. The main themes of the paper are the identity construction of designers, pursuit of plausibility rather than accuracy, and producing part of the environment the designers face. I conclude with a definition of socio-historical practices that are the culmination of the everyday sensemaking efforts of a designer: construction of equality, discussion about a brief, incubation, drawing, presentation, construction of workspace, collective composition, claiming ownership of a concept, retention, handing over a concept, and storytelling.
Keywords:
