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Design+

ARTICLE
Transposing purposeful human action theory

and task performance research into the design
context

1†
Thomas Fischer * , Chitraj Bissoonauth 2† , Guillermo Sánchez Sotés 3 ,
and Christiane M. Herr 1
1 School of Design, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
2 Department of Architecture, School of Design, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou,
Jiangsu, China
3 Manchester School of Architecture, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, United
Kingdom

Abstract

Purposeful human action theory and empirical task performance research inform
our understanding of human action and how human action may be improved.
The findings of these fields are often assumed to be generalizable across all areas
† These authors contributed equally of human activity. Several design theories, however, characterize design as a
to this work. distinct regime of human action with ill-structured, wicked, and messy qualities.
*Corresponding author: This perspective suggests that insights from other fields about purposeful action
Thomas Fischer and task performance may not be applicable in design. This research addresses
(tfischer@sustech.edu.cn) the gap between assumptions about human action uniformity across disciplines
Citation: Fischer T, Bissoonauth C, and design’s distinctive characteristics as an ill-structured domain. We proposed
Sotés GS, Herr CM. Transposing analogical reasoning as both an operational framework and an explanatory
purposeful human action theory
and task performance research mechanism for transposing theories from well-structured contexts to design
into the design context. Design+. contexts. We demonstrated this approach with two investigations: Testing Kirsh and
2025;2(2):4875. Maglio’s theory of epistemic and pragmatic actions in design contexts and exploring
doi: 10.36922/dp.4875
an approach to testing Bavelas’s empirical performance studies in design contexts.
Received: September 18, 2024 Our results showed that while some principles of purposeful human action theory
1st revised: March 17, 2025 and empirical task performance research remain relevant in design contexts, they
could also require substantial adaptation. Without adaptation, the findings of both
2nd revised: April 7, 2025
fields may be inapplicable or even misleading when applied to design. We hope this
Accepted: May 6, 2025 research contributes clarity to the development of design theory as well as to theory
Published online: May 28, 2025 applications in design research, education, management, and practice.
Copyright: © 2025 Author(s).
This is an Open-Access article Keywords: Purposeful human action; Task performance; Ill-structured problems;
distributed under the terms
of the Creative Commons Analogy; Research into design
AttributionNoncommercial License,
permitting all non-commercial use,
distribution, and reproduction in any
medium, provided the original work
is properly cited. 1. Introduction
Publisher’s Note: AccScience Our understanding of human action, and how human action may be improved, is
Publishing remains neutral with informed by, among other things, purposeful human action theory and empirical task
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional performance research. Purposeful human action theory is developed and applied in
affiliations. a range of disciplines, including psychology, ethics, anthropology, management, and

Volume 2 Issue 2 (2025) 1 doi: 10.36922/dp.4875