Design research approaches from the perspective of philosophy of technology

ABSTRACT: Design research is highly interdisciplinary, connecting to significant research problems such as the scientificity of design research and blurring boundaries of design disciplines. This paper adopts the perspective of philosophy of technology, regarding design as technical artifact-making activities. It endeavors to identify potential design research approaches based on the evolution of the philosophy of technology, and explain how these approaches have emerged, developed, and evolved. These include: analytic philosophy approach, pragmatism approach, and phenomenology approach. These three research approaches can represent the differentiation rules of design research in both independent and interrelated manners. The clarification can make the philosophical stances of technical artifact-making activities clearer, and provide philosophical references for future design meta-research.