Reflections on upcoming directions of design research

By analysing the Department of Design's research projects that have been funded and concluded, it has been possible to return a snapshot of the thematic areas that are most often manned, the type of output that the research produces, the results achieved under the funding program, and the long-term impacts that this can generate. This systematised information makes it possible to discover how the nature of design research projects has evolved to date, widening the mesh on the initial principals, to meet new challenges and respond to new needs for change suggested by the evolution of society, users, production processes, and policy inferences. How will this evolution continue? What will be the new challenges and new territories that our research will have to cover? And also, how will Design as a discipline be able to position itself and take directions of conscious development? Building on the evidence gathered and presented in the previous parts of the book, this final chapter aims to discuss the possible futures. More than trying to anticipate in a forward-looking way what the future strategic trajectories of design research may be, the chapter will try to outline some emerging challenges to reflect on them critically. In this perspective, it will try to bridge past and present to possible futures, highlighting how they could affect design research and design practices, and the education of both researchers and practitioners.