NORDES 2013 - Experiments in Design Research

Expressions, Knowledge, Critique

Call For Papers / Call For Participation (CfP)

Design is closely affiliated with the experimental, which is as an exploratory and probing undertaking. What does this mean in the context of design research? Today, design research relies on various and divergent notions of design experimentation and ideas about their value and uses. In one corner, experimentation is conceived of as designerly exploration into, for instance, materials, technologies, and expressions. In another corner, design experimentation is shaped according to hypothetical-deductive models of knowledge production inherited from science and engineering. Yet, in a third corner, design experiments are explored as a means for promoting social change or as a critique of political and ethical values. For instance, this can take the form of critique through fiction and utopias.


This raises a set of central questions for design research: How is design experimentation similar and different from experimentation in other research fields and areas? What is the role of exploration vis-à-vis experimentation in design research? How is it possible to provide a consistent account of research methods underlying experimental design research? Is it possible to stage design experiments other than as highly idealized probing situations? Can design experiments act as part of a critical aesthetic practice?


Nordes 2013 invites designers and design researchers to explore the many aspects of design research as experimental practice.


Possible themes include, but are not limited to:
Objects of design experiments
Experimental expressions
Design experiments as critique
Experiments in design research versus in science and art
Methods of experiments in design research
Staging experiments
Places of design experiments
Experiments in design education


Full Papers
The Nordes 2013 conference invites original papers on various forms of experimentation within design and design research. Full papers must be of the highest international standard and contribute significantly to research and practice within design. Nordes 2013 aims to be a multidisciplinary forum for emergent and current research areas influencing the various design disciplines. Full papers should be 10 pages including illustrations, figures, and references. Papers will undergo double blind peer-reviews and accepted papers will be presented in the conference programme and published in the conference proceedings. The proceedings will be available as an open access online database during and after the conference.


Exploratory Papers
We invite the submission of exploratory papers that include design cases, position papers, work in progress, and emerging new research areas which may yet lack solid theoretical foundations, but point towards exciting new directions for design research. Exploratory papers should be 4 pages, including illustrations and references. Exploratory papers will undergo double blind peer-reviews and accepted papers will be published in the conference proceedings. The proceedings will be made available as an open access online database during and after the conference.


To facilitate the double blind review process, authors should make an effort to ensure that their identity is not revealed by information contained in the submission. For example, please replace references to the author’s proper name by the term “Author,” including any bibliographic data.

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Changes to this page (conference/event)

04 Jan 2013: Tagged
04 Jan 2013: Added