The Design Method in Practice

Abstract

Just as in Great Britain, the designer in the USA has been in danger of becoming the forgotten practitioner of technology. Because he must, almost by definition, be a generalist, the designer has been discounted in favour of the specialists in more tangible areas. But in the USA this tendency to undervalue the designer seems now to be reversing in both industrial and academic circles. In industry, the designer systems manager is being rediscovered as the man who can grasp and accomplish a comprehensive programme with all of its involved and nebulous problems. Universities are realizing that design is, if anything, more intellectually and academically demanding then many of the more specialized areas of study.