A Typology of Design Knowledge: A Theoretical Framework

This paper is a theoretical approach to structure design-specific knowledge into a framework, which can be used within the context of organizational and societal development. We conducted an extensive literature review about existing definitions of design knowledge, and knowledge in general. Based on this, we developed a typology, which consists of four different types of design knowledge and three interjacent transitions. According to our proposed framework, design knowledge can be represented in physical artifacts, as tacit gut feeling, as codified knowledge, or as scientific theories. To illustrate further we present examples for each knowledge type and transition and we suggest prototypical approaches for transferring these types of design knowledge in the context of design education. We believe this paper contributes to a better understanding of design knowledge, and our suggested framework might serve as a foundation for further design research, and for developing ITsystems to support design processes.