Passos iniciais para métodos de pesquisa: reflexões sobre curso piloto de pesquisa em design.Steps to research methods for beginners: reflections from a pilot course in research methods for design

Based on the lately teaching experience for the Research methods for design course within the programmes of the School of Design of Politecnico di Milano, this contribution offers a reflection from a personal perspective on difficulties met when introducing design methods to novice students in design. In the context of Politecnico undergraduate and graduate programmes in design, the area of research methods for design is still in a formative stage and perspectives on the form and nature of design research curricula are in progress. Although a local community of scholars has been consolidating research methods in an increasingly grounded form, the debate about the nature of design research, the institutional framework that should support it and the scholarly models of design education through research methods is generating open and critical questions. In the last years there has been an increasing integration of design research theories, principles and tools within the design curricula at this School of Design, where design research, either as a topic or a set of methods, is now part of required courses, design studios and complementary or elective activities. This paper outlines the present status of the School of Design of Politecnico di Milano, now formally integrating design research education at the master and Ph.D. level. Then it pinpoints some conceptual frameworks that may be useful when introducing novices to research methods for product design. Finally, it addresses – from the author perspective – some persistent difficulties encountered when exposing novice students to a tentative generalized body of research methods for design.