Design Research as a Variety of Second-Order Cybernetic Practice

Abstract

Structured Abstract Background(s) -Design TheoryPerspective -Second-order cybernetics Context -The relationship between design and science has shifted over recent decades.One bridge between the two is that of cybernetics, which offers perspectives on both in terms of their practice. From around 1980 onwards, drawing on ideas from cybernetics, Ranulph Glanville has suggested that rather than apply science to design, it makes more sense to understand science as a form of design activity, reversing the more usual hierarchy between the two. I return to review this argument here, in the context of recent discussions in this journal regarding second order science (SOS).Problem -Despite numerous connections to practice, second order cybernetics (SOC) has tended to be associated with theory. As a result, SOC is perceived as separate to the more tangible aspects of earlier cybernetics in a way that obscures both the continuity between the two and also current opportunities for developing the field.Method -I review Ranulph Glanville's understanding of design, and particularly his account of scientific research as a design-like activity, placing this within the context of the shifting relation between science and design during the development of SOC, with reference to the work of Horst Rittel and Paul Feyerabend. Through this, I summarise significant parallels and overlaps between SOC and the contemporary concerns of design research.Results -I suggest that we can see design research not just as a field influenced by cybernetics, but as a form of SOC practice even where cybernetics is not explicitly referenced.Implications -Given this, design research offers much to cybernetics as an important example of SOC that is both outward looking and practice based. As such it bridges the gap between SOC and the more tangible legacy of earlier cybernetics, while also suggesting connections to contemporary concerns in this journal with SOS in terms of researching research.Constructivist content -By suggesting that we see design research as an example of SOC, I develop connections between constructivism and practice.

Design Cybernetics

“…In this sense, design research can be seen as a valuable approach to consider when examining current matters such as designing 'smart' interactions. This is particularly relevant to the design field of 'smart' interactions; as Sweeting [25] states, design research is often concerned with epistemological questions regarding the interrelations of designers, other stakeholders, working methods and the knowledge embedded in what is designed.…”

Owning one’s epistemology in religious studies research methodology

“…SOC has been shown to be a useful approach in several disciplines, including psychotherapy (Bateson, 2000; Keeney, 1980), education (Baron and Herr, 2018; Herr, 2014), design research (Sweeting, 2016) and more recently, in the arts where theatre has been used as a laboratory for experimenting with SOC (Scholte, 2016). Recently, there have been several publications that are geared towards cybernetics methodology as an approach, aptly termed second-order science (Müller, 2008, 2011; Riegler and Müller, 2016).…”

Design as externalization

“…Part of this contextual environment is their own ongoing experience: designers "learn a repertoire of concepts, schemas, and strategies, " and draw from this repertoire "to design representations and action for unique situations" (Argyris 1985: 81). Second-order cybernetics accounts for this in terms of nested loops which each inform the other (Glanville 2007, Sweeting 2016. In some cases, the interactive context includes the intellectual frameworks, questions and assumptions of academic inquiry.…”