ABSTRACT

The design research process can be a powerful methodology for promoting positive social change, but it does not guarantee the development of ethical design outcomes. The enactors of the design research process often work within collaborative and co-design spaces, which move the discipline away from a single narrative of knowing toward a plural way of knowing. Design benefits from a collaborative, participatory, multi- and interdisciplinary effort. The work outlined in this proposal seeks to 1) understand the interconnectedness and varied ways designers find and search for ethical meaning in the design discipline, 2) the plurality of ethical underpinnings that affect the efficacy of the design research process, and 3) identify and analyze case studies that explore ethical complexities in the design research process.