Action Research Approach in Design Research

The chapter describes an action research approach applied to design research. Starting from the key concepts of action research, it will highlight the relationship between action research and design research to describe, later, how the action research approach can be applied in design research also defining the adapted research tools. The first part is devoted to the analysis of existing literature on action research. The second part aims at highlighting the connections between action-research and design research. Further, the paper proposes a design research process, based on action research, providing a theoretical and practical guideline for researchers and designers. Moreover, it describes a design research process defining the phases, the activities, and the design tools. The design research process is described through four phases (analysing, interpreting, projecting, and implementing) to pinpointing the main elements useful to support the participation of different actors involved in this kind of research process (such as design researchers, practitioners, policy-makers, citizens). The adoption of action research in the design field involves the idea of a collaborative process of research that also requires experiments and field observation. The action research process, as described in the article, is contextualized in research activities related to complex systems (e.g., territorial contexts) where the participation of different actors is crucial. From this perspective, also the research tools and practices need to refer to participatory approaches that often entail emancipatory processes.