Akin Kazakçi

10 Years of C-K Theory: A Survey on the Academic and Industrial Impacts of a Design Theory.

The goal of our research was to understand what is expected today from a design theory and what types of impact such type of scientific proposition may reach. To answer these questions with a grounded approach, we chose to study the development of C–K theory as phenomenon per se that can inform our research work. C–K theory is clearly recognised as a design theory and it is a good representative of the level of generality and abstraction of contemporary design theory, and the validity of the theory as such has already been documented (e.g. [32, 33, 35, 36, 47, 56, 68], Reich et al. 2010). The current work sets out to understand the dissemination and the impact of the theory in academic and industrial fields. The data collection overlooks the literature on C–K theory in English and in French, and includes interviews and feedbacks of students and industrial partners who applied C–K methodologies and tools. This research confirms the rapid diffusion and multiple impacts of C–K theory. Beyond, such study signals that there are important expectations towards a design theory within the field of knowledge at large. However there are strong conditions to meet these expectations: generality, generativity and relatedness to contemporary sciences. If it is impossible to say what will be the next generations of design theory, it is sure that they should progress on these directions.

Multiple forms of applications and impacts of a design theory -ten years of industrial applications of C-K theory

C-K theory has been developed by Armand Hatchuel and Benoit Weil and then by other researchers since 1990s. In this paper we show that its very abstract nature and its high degree of universality actually supported a large variety of industrial applications. We distinguish three types of applications: 1) C-K theory provides a new language, that supports new analysis and descriptive capacity and new teachable individual models of thoughts; 2) C-K theory provides a very general framework to better characterize the validity domain and the performance conditions of existing methods, leading to potential improvement of these methods; 3) C-K theory is the conceptual model at the root of new design methods that are today largely used in the industry.

Uncovering the specificities of CAD tools for industrial design with design theory – style models for generic singularity

Abstract According to some casual observers, computer-aided design (CAD) tools are very similar. These tools are used to design new artifacts in a digital environment; hence, they share typical software components, such as a computing engine and human–machine interface. However, CAD software is dedicated to specific professionals – such as engineers, three-dimensional (3D) artists, and industrial designers (IDs) – who claim that, despite their apparent similarities, CAD tools are so different that they are not substitutable. Moreover, CAD tools do not fully meet the needs of IDs. This paper aims at better characterizing CAD tools by taking into account their underlying design logic, which involves relying on recent advances in design theory. We show that engineering CAD tools are actually modeling tools that design a generic variety of products; 3D artist CAD tools not only design but immediately produce single digital artifacts; and ID CAD tools are neither a mix nor an hybridization of engineering CAD and 3D artist CAD tools but have their own logic, namely to create new conceptual models for a large variety of products, that is, the creation of a unique original style that leads to a generic singularity. Such tools are useful for many creative designers beyond IDs.