Making as a Method for Knowledge Production
Authors: Nithikul Nimkulrat, Camilla Groth
peer-reviewed conference paper, 2025
Our perspective on design research includes the act of making as a method for knowledge production. This means that we value the process of thinking through materials in the act of making and the role of practitioner-researchers in the generation of knowledge through situated material practice. Materials here are not limited to physical but extend to digital and virtual ones. Ideas are not just concretised into their material forms, but they are developed in the interaction and negotiation with the material, other people, and environments through multiple iterations. In the process, many aspects of experience are of importance: The experience of the designer in the process of developing ideas and artefacts, the experience of possible collaborators in this process, and the experiences of the possible users, viewers, testers, buyers, or sellers. All these collaborators bring with them aspects of experiential knowledge that may offer interesting and important insights that can enhance not only the design practice, but also our knowledge about it and how to communicate this knowledge to others.
Suggested Citation: Nimkulrat, N., & Groth, C. (2025). Making as a Method for Knowledge Production. In P. Lloyd, C. Landa-Avila, & S. Lenzi (eds.), Proceedings of the DRS 2025 Summer Meeting, 19-20 June, University of the Basque Country, San Sebastián, Spain. doi.org/10.21606/drs.sm2025.119.
