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Design+ An appropriate design education

only of achieving specific objectives but also of generating to areas of knowledge that share a common problem:
solutions applicable across different contexts. The relationship between theory and practice. This also
Thus, the relationship with problem-solving has evolved. means guaranteeing considerable variety and flexibility
In the current context, problem-solving is now closely in approach, especially during educational phases.
intertwined with problem setting and problem finding (or Consequently, we must consider the role of designers in
even problem inventing, a concept often associated with design training. To prevent an approach that attempts
future-oriented sciences). The first concerns circumscribing to be scientific (but lacks a disciplinary model) from
the problem, while the second focuses on predicting it automatically becoming academic in the negative sense
(and the third on dealing with abstract hypotheses). This of the term, we must recognize that if training prepares
evolution has led to the prominence of certain keywords: students for a profession, the logic of the expert – who
design thinking, flexibility, and, in education, learning transforms the experience into a norm – can lead not
by doing – an approach that undoubtedly represents a only to an “academic” attitude but also to a vicious, self-
canonical and historical reference. The concept of learning referential cycle. This is particularly dangerous in a
by doing, introduced by Dewey , originated within the complex and urgent context, where the proliferation of
1
American pragmatist school that also gave rise to the tools risks becoming ineffective (or even harmful) if used
concept of abduction, as suggested by Peirce , which is improperly.
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particularly valuable to design scholars. The risk is particularly evident in the application
Abduction, in fact, opened a new perspective on of inadequate explanatory structures in scientific
how we understand knowledge. Positioned outside the communication within design research. The pursuit of
deductive and inductive logics, which form the basis of objective conclusions in papers presented at international
any disciplinary model, abduction generates hypotheses, conferences often mimics the outcomes of scientific
not certainties. In everyday design practice, this concept is experiments conducted in laboratories. However, the
exemplified by the “what if?” question. design does not function in vitro, as its “discoveries” are
always contextual and linked to specific situations. The
By referencing Dewey and Peirce, we aim to propose a role of references, too, should be subjected to specific
relationship between design practices and two disciplines conditions. A reference may be something freely utilized,
that are similarly linked to a pragmatic dimension: as designers do when drawing on anything pragmatically
Pedagogy, which includes a philosophical component to solve a problem (in terms of texts, patterns, styles,
and addresses educational models and their practical iconographies, etc.), or it should be a canon to devoutly
outcomes; and semiotics, which, in this case, transforms adhere to. References are useful for building a “style”
from a largely abstract discipline into a tool for reading of thinking (and designing), which ultimately forms a
reality in functional terms. methodology. However, are they mere abstract reference

In other words, we are advocating a transversal systems? Style is not a neutral term, nor is it limited to
interpretation that assimilates the methodological structures ornamental concerns. On the contrary, style is a complex
of different disciplines through design – a transdisciplinary interface that expresses cultural and anthropological
hypothesis regarding the cultural peculiarities of relationships through artifacts.
design. This interpretation implies that the concept of
transdisciplinarity, particularly crucial for scientific and 2. Materials and methods
humanistic disciplines, requires a specific interpretation Dewey and Pierce are two historical references that help
when applied to design. Design, in fact, appears to be one propose the idea of design as an activator of structural
of the few tools capable of triggering homologies suitable analogies between disciplines, aimed at interacting with
for constructing transdisciplinary frameworks. the human dimension – an area in which design plays a
If we are to be concise (perhaps overly so), design is significant role. This is a problem that design shares with
necessarily transdisciplinary because it is not, in itself, a other fields, particularly those where the relationship
discipline. According to the concept of transdisciplinarity, with the user or interlocutor is particularly strong, such
the intersection and fusion of different disciplinary models as healthcare. In healthcare, for example, there is a need
represent a more than fertile scientific and hermeneutical not only to find practical solutions based on documented
horizon today. However, it must be managed correctly at premises but also to monitor the results achieved, to
the application level. The theme of design is not scientific develop increasingly effective tools.
evidence but pragmatic activity. Thus, reference models From these specific needs, a true transdisciplinary
cannot be purely epistemological but should be linked hypothesis could arise. This hypothesis would not rely on

Volume 2 Issue 1 (2025) 2 doi: 10.36922/dp.4757