The projects’ outcomes: the analysis of the results in the medium-term

The chapter focuses on the outcomes of the design research, namely those results that can be defined as the achieved medium-term effects of an inter- vention’s activities and outputs. It reports the results of the qualitative anal- ysis conducted on 32 funded research projects, focusing on understanding the kind of outcomes of a project that is needed and able to contribute to achieving its objectives jointly. The study aimed at answering the following research questions: (i) what kind of outcomes have been produced in the projects? (ii) which outcomes are directly linked to the action performed by the Department of Design? (iii) are there commonalities among the diverse projects, or may we identify recurrent patterns? This analysis revealed how design research has a strategic role. Within interdisciplinary partnerships, the design discipline’s contribution stands in the capability to bring and adapt its approaches, processes, and methods in the project to achieve objectives with scientific, social, and economic dimensions towards future transformations. Despite the peculiarities of the diverse research projects, most share a common approach to the research and let emerge current evolutionary paths in the approaches and methods of the design research, widening its discipli- nary boundaries, here discussed through the analysed research projects run at the Department of Design of Politecnico di Milano.