Research should be part of an organization's design management culture. It should provide continuous input to the design process. With a focus on identifying customer needs, contributors articulate broad research strategies and critique how best to pose research questions. One author reveals how consumers define "good design,” and others present methodologies addressing product development, packaging, and environmental design. Case studies are the bridge from theory to practice; we include the stories behind IBM's "e-business" brand and the multi-year research that made Purple Moon a hit in the difficult arena of girls’ computer games.

Articles

On the Necessity for Design Research
Thomas Walton

Experience-Based Design: Toward a Science of Artful Business Innovation 
John Cain

Understand What Others Don’t
Bonnie Johnson and Davis Masten

Researching Steelcase’s Pathways
MJ Madigan

E-Business and the New Blue
Lee D. Green and Mona Leonard Lentz

A Darwinian Theory of Good Design
Bryce G. Rutter and James A.W. Agne

The Story of Purple Moon
Christopher Ireland

Rapid Ideation in Action: Getting Good Ideas Quickly and Cheaply
Brian Clark and Donald G. Reinertsen

Designing for Productive Work Environments
Elizabeth Meek and Michael Bourque

Using Research to Create Visual and Verbal Agreement
Michael Sack

Researching the Company Web Site: Look Before You Leap
Bill Kennedy