Design thinking meets academic research: Science communication for design communities using analogies and illustrations

Science communication is recognized as an increasingly relevant field within society because it allows for the communication of research results to non-specialized audiences, nurturing scientific literacy among citizens. In this landscape, the field of Design, especially design thinking, has been making valuable contributions by enhancing communication across various academic disciplines, making research findings more accessible to the wider public. The question is whether design can help to communicate academic design research within its own community, reaching out to design educators, students, and practitioners? Our paper explores this question through the description of an example in which two hallmarks of designerly ways of thinking - analogies and visual representation are applied to communicate a scientific argument arising from academic design research. The selected example revolves around the concept of design research categories. Consequently, a secondary objective of our paper is to investigate the use of analogies and illustrations a means to elucidate the distinctions and subtleties among various categories of research in the field of design. The process itself allowed the authors to reflect not only on the utility of such tools to develop a new way of communication, but also to assist the work of multidisciplinary teams in communicating science.