Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Since its initial publication in 1970, Design Methods has been considered the seminal work on design methodology. Written by one of the founders of the design methods movement, it has been highly praised in international journals and has been translated into Japanese, Romanian, Polish, Russian, and Spanish. As Jones states in the preface: "Alongside the old idea of design as the drawing of objects that are then to be built or manufactured there are many new ideas of what it is, all very different:

Design Methods first evaluates traditional methods such as design-by-drawing and shows how they do not adequately address the complexity of demands upon today's designer. The book then provides 35 new methods that have been developed to assist designers and planners to become more sensitive to user needs. These methods move beyond a focus on the product to the thought that precedes it. Throughout, the book's emphasis on integrating creative and rational skills directs readers away from narrow specialization to a broader view of design. The new methods are described and classified in a way that makes it easier for designers and planners to find a method that suits a particular design situation. They include logical procedures such as systematic search and systems engineering, data gathering procedures such as literature searching and the writing of questionnaires, innovative procedures such as brainstorming and synectic and system transformation, and evaluative procedures such as specification writing and the selection of criteria. Offering a wider view--accompanied by appropriate skills--than can be obtained from the teaching of any specialized design profession, Design Methods is important reading for designers and teachers in numerous fields. It will be welcomed by engineers, architects, planners, and landscape architects, as well as by interior, graphic, product, and industrial designers. This extraordinary book will provide key insights to software designers and numerous others outside traditional design professions who are nevertheless creatively involved in design processes. It is also relevant to the teaching of cultural studies, technology, and any kind of creative project.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• The Developing Design Process
• What is Designing?
• Traditional Methods
• The Need for New Methods
• The New Methods Reviewed
• The Design Process Disintegrated
• Choosing Strategies and Methods
• Design Methods in Action
• Prefabricated Strategies (Convergence)
• Strategy Control
• Methods of Exploring Design Situations (Divergence)
• Methods of Searching for Ideas (Divergence and Transformation)
• Methods of Exploring Problem Structure (Transformation)
• Methods of Evaluation (Convergence)
• References and Index of Authors
• Subject Index to Part 1