Design Thinking Research Paper Guidelines

Additional Resource Links:

First and foremost look very closely at the individual requirements for each written assignment which will be found on its assignment page.

DON’T DO A BOOK REPORT! I am looking for critical thinking, theories or ideas of yours based on facts that you found out and analyzed.

This design topic must be an example of design thinking that caused a (paradigm) shift in the way people thought or changed how they did things in their daily life as a result. It cannot simply be an outstanding logo, poster, advertisement, designer or design style etc. Instead, it must be an innovation or development in design that changed the way people thought, behaved or believed. (design leading). Be sure that your choice of topic had that type of effect.

Regardless of specific topic, your paper should always address the general design thinking guidelines of culture, technology, belief system, style, geography. Please be sure to address each of the questions found below within your paper. 

  • How does the work relate to it’s particular cultural, social, geographical, political, stylistic, religious and/or technological context—the Zeitgeist—of the time?
  • What caused this style, movement or innovation to occur?
  • How does the work of this person, or design movement continue to influence design today?
  • Was the work of this person, or design movement an example of design leading or design following?

The length of your paper does not include the bibliography, title page, & visual examples. Those pages are not counted in the page requirement (varies according to specific assignment). 

Suggestions to help guide your research:

Discover designers who have practiced the art of visual communication by transforming how we engage with each other and the larger world in new and exciting ways. (not one-hit wonders).

Look for the invention of new processes, strategies and technologies. How are historical precedents reevaluated and critiqued, innovative storytelling and narrative techniques formed? How have designers actively reshaped the creative process and as a result re-directed currents in contemporary culture, and the meaning of design in general?

Look for innovations that came about as a result of reactions against
previous thinking.

From an awareness of style, and close scrutiny of exemplary visual communication, your answers should provide a written perspective on human development by critically analyzing historical examples and develop informed judgments about their meaning
—Apply Design Thinking. How or why did they do what they did?

I am interested in your opinions based on your ability to reason. Your success is largely determined by your ability to cite specific historic examples to support your viewpoints and then interpret their larger meaning and impact on design and culture. This will require you to look beyond just the object examples and instead interpret their greater meaning and impact.

Organization for both Written and Oral Presentations

Chicago Style Guide

  • You should organize the material that you present so that it follows some sort of logical order or sequence. We can use the well-established structure that is used for writing research papers to guide us in organizing an oral presentation that is research oriented. That organization typically includes the following specific divisions shown below, but require some modification for oral presentations (listed below that):
  1. Abstract —An abstract is sometimes referred to as an Executive Summary. Whatever is called, its main purpose is to concisely reference the main points of the paper or proposal that it accompanies. It may be in the form of either a bulleted point summary, outline, or in a narrative paragraph style. In either case it is a single page. It is not the same as an introduction.
  2. Introduction — The Introduction to a well-organized research paper or presentation always includes 3 main/basic parts and is a section of the main paper or presentation, not separate from it. Those three parts are:
      1. A Topic—The general area or subject of your paper
      2. A Research Question—How you will investigate your Topic
      3. A Thesis—a sentence which states what you hope to prove or answer the Research Question. These three parts have a relationship to one another that is somewhat similar to one kind of human relationship. As such, they might be compared in the following way:
      • Bob introduces Jose to Adeline. (Introduction)
      • Adeline feels some sort of interest/attraction towards Jose.
        (Jose is now the Topic)
      • Adeline is curious to find out more about Jose and so asks Bob and other friends questions about Jose such as “What does Jose like to do for fun?”
        (a Research Question)
      • Adeline discovers that Jose likes sports. So, she guesses that a good way to get to know Jose better would be to ask him what his favorite sport is and why.
        (Thesis Question)
  1. Method—Discuss how the data or factual information was collected and how it was transcribed. Do not be personal (e.g. I did this, etc.) It is better to use the passive voice to put the focus on what was done rather than who did it.
  2. Results—Also factual information, not interpretation. You need to display the data/examples.
  3. Discussion — This is where you DO interpret your findings. Showing that your facts provide proof of your thesis statement. A side point of this is that you should also acknowledge any information that you have discovered that DOES NOT support your thesis. Development of the topic. This is the main body of the paper. Connect the facts, examples to your thesis.
  4. Conclusion/Summary—revisit or recap your main points. Do this in a general way, an overview. This serves as a reminder. New information should not be introduced at this point. It could be considered as similar to a lawyers closing argument in a jury trial.
  5. Citing References
    1. Reference List, Citation List, Bibliography
    2. Chicago Style Bibliography
    3. Put raw data in an appendix
    4. Powerpoint—To cite your sources within a PowerPoint presentation, you can include your references or in-text citations on each slide. You can (a) provide the references verbally, (b) provide a reference list slide at the end of your presentation with corresponding in-text citations, or (c) combine these.
      1. In Chicago style, cite sources that you found in someone else’s PowerPoint lectures or slides in this format:

        Speaker’s Last Name, Speaker’s First Name. “Lecture Title.” PowerPoint presentation, Institution, Institution location, Date.

        Example:

        Marks, Diana. “Fish Roles in the Wetlands Ecosystem.” PowerPoint presentation, LaCruz University, Philadelphia, September 9, 2019.

      2. In Chicago style, cite sources you found in someone else’s Lecture or Speech
      3. In Chicago style, cite references within your own Powerpoint Presentation
        1. Powerpoint tips to do this.
        2. Format style
          1. There are two ways to cite within a PowerPoint presentation in Chicago style: author-date and notes-biblio. In both cases, the citation should include the author’s name, the presentation title, and the date. If the presentation is accessed online, the URL or DOI should also be provided. In author-date style, the citation is placed in parentheses in the text. In notes-biblio style, the citation is indicated by a superscript number and referenced in a footnote or endnote. A bibliography should also be included on a separate page with the title, Bibliography, centered d at the top.

Please upload your essay responses to the appropriate assignment page on Canvas.