Steering Our Craft, Theory 3, HS25

“Steering our Craft” proposes a theory class revolving around the writing practice in design. Working both individually and as a group, we will develop and refine our academic writing practice through inputs, readings, in-class writing and peer feedback sessions.

Taking inspiration by Ursula K. Le Guin’s Steering the Craft and her notion of writing as an inherently lonely practice that is nevertheless grounded in a community of peers. Through different perspectives on writing, we will intensify our awareness of our own process and continue to develop it.

In connection with the individual MA works, writing is understood as deeply entangled with design practice, becoming a tool for thinking, reflecting, shaping and mediating the work.

Together, we will work toward publishing a full design research paper on the Research Catalogue, complemented by a printed zine that extends and amplfies the experimental and material side of the research paper.

Students are encouraged to treat writing and their MA thesis practice not as separate but as mutually beneficial and enriching. Through cycles of making, reflecting, and writing, we aim to strengthen both clarity and the depth of our research narratives.

Calendar 📆

Mo 06.10. Kick-off / Write Abstract
Mo 13.10. Peer feedback round on abstracts
We 15.10. Karmen lecture “Art and Design Research in Europe“ with Anton Rey
Mo 20.10. Independent Work
Mo 27.10. Peer feedback round and inputs on writing practices with Anthea & Duy
Mo 03.11. MIZ Advanced Research Training with Bettina Ruchti (meetig point in front of library)
Thu 06.11. Visit K-Set, archive of independent self-published media. Schönleinstrasse 10, 8032 Zurich. Opening hours 18:00 – 21:00.
Mo 10.11. Paper presentation / Submit for Peer Review
Mo 17.11. Independent Work
Mo 24.11. Independent Work / WIP Exhibition Set-up
Mo 01.12. Peer feedback round / Zine Concept
Mo 15.12. Publish

January 2026 Two half-day writing workshop with the PhD Centre (tbc)
FS26 Research Proposal and Grants Workshop

Loosely based on the requirements of JAR Journal for Artistic Research

• Title/Subtitle
• Author Details: Full name, affiliation (university), email address
• Abstract: 125 – 250 words, describing your topic, methodology, significance and contribution to the field of Interaction Design, sparking interest in the reader.
• Keywords: At least five keywords, related to the abstract
• Licence: CC BY-NC-ND
• Table of Content: Complete and linked to the individual sections of your paper
• Text: 3000 to 4500 words (without bibliography)
  • Introduction
  • Background, Context & Related Work
  • Methodology & Approach
  • Artefacts, Prototypes, Experiments
  • Findings, Analysis, Discussion, Argumentation
  • Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
• Media: Uploaded directly to RC. Images to be labelled (Figure 1, 2, …)
• Citations and References: Chicago Author-Date
• Hyperlinks: external hyperlinks open in a new window, all footnote hyperlinks functional and consistent
• Copyright: ©Firstname Lastname

Click to unfold

Digital Research Tools

Guide Research Catalogue

• Graff, Gerald, and Cathy Birkenstein. 2021. “They Say / I Say”: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. Fifth Edition. W.W. Norton & Company.
• Reitsma, Lizette. 2021. “Making Sense/Zines: Reflecting on Positionality.” Paper presented at Pivot 2021 Dismantling/Reassembling: Tools for Alternative Futures. Pluriversal Design Special Interest Group, July 22. doi.org/10.21606/pluriversal.2021.0031.
• Le Guin, Ursula K. 2015. “the peer group workshop.” In Steering the Craft: A Twenty-First-Century Guide to Sailing the Sea of Story, New edition, Appendix. Boston: Mariner Books.
• Schwab, Michael. 2018. "Peer reviewing in the journal for artistic research." Evaluating art and design research: Reflection, evaluation, practices and research presentations: 52-59.

• Bitton, Joëlle. 2016. “The Object of Design and Research Methods.” In Measure of Abstraction: Embodied Fabrication and the Materiality of Intimacy. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard Graduate School of Design.
• Borgdorff, Henk, Peter Peters, and Trevor J. Pinch, eds. 2020. Dialogues Between Artistic Research and Science and Technology Studies. Routledge Advances in Art and Visual Studies. Routledge, Taylor & Francis group. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429438875.
• Christensen, Michelle, Wolfgang Jonas, and Ralf Michel, eds. 2021. NERD 2 - New Experimental Research in Design 2: Positions and Perspectives. Board of International Research in Design. Birkhäuser Verlag. doi.org/10.1515/9783035623666.
• Cross, Nigel. 1999. “Design Research: A Disciplined Conversation.” Design Issues 15 (2): 5. doi.org/10.2307/1511837.
• Dittenberger, Sandra, Hans Stefan Moritsch, and Agnes Raschauer. 2022. Teaching Research in Design: Guidelines for Integrating Scientific Standards in Design Education. 1st ed. Vol. 58. Design. Transcript Verlag. doi.org/10.14361/9783839463765.
• Dombois, Florian, and Ute Meta Bauer, eds. 2012. Intellectual Birdhouse: Artistic Practice as Research. Koenig Books.
• Dombois, Florian. 2006. Kunst als Forschung: Ein Versuch, sich selbst eine Anleitung zu entwerfen.
• Erlhoff, Michael, and Wolfgang Jonas, eds. 2018. NERD - New Experimental Research in Design: Positions and Perspectives. Board of International Research in Design Series. Birkhäuser.
• Gaver, William. 2020. The Presence Project. Second edition. Practice as Research. Goldsmiths Press.
• Irwin, Terry. 2015. “Transition Design: A Proposal for a New Area of Design Practice, Study, and Research.” Design and Culture 7 (2): 229–46. doi.org/10.1080/17547075.2015.1051829.
• Jarvis, Nadine, David Cameron, and Andy Boucher. 2012. “Attention to Detail: Annotations of a Design Process.” Proceedings of the 7th Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction: Making Sense Through Design, October 14, 11–20. doi.org/10.1145/2399016.2399019.
• Mittelstraß, J. 2005. "Methodische Transdisziplinarität.” TATuP - Zeitschrift für Technikfolgenabschätzung in Theorie und Praxis 14 (2): 18–23. doi.org/10.14512/tatup.14.2.18.
• Nova, Nicolas, ed. 2014. Beyond Design Ethnography: How Designers Practice Ethnographic Research. SHS.
• Nova, Nicolas. 2021. Investigation/Design. Translated by Walter Hackman. HEAD Publishing.
• Rillig, Matthias C., and Karine Bonneval. 2020. “The Artist Who Co-Authored a Paper and Expanded My Professional Network.” Nature, ahead of print, February 27. doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-00575-7.

As discussed in class Mo 27 October

• Lohmann, Julia. 2024. “Phytofictions and Phytofication.” In Being Algae: Transformations in Water, Plants, edited by Yogi Hale Hendlin, Johanna Weggelaar, Natalia Derossi, and Sergio Mugnai. BRILL. doi.org/10.1163/9789004683310.
• Zimmerman, John, and Jodi Forlizzi. 2014. “Research Through Design in HCI.” In Ways of Knowing in HCI, edited by Judith S. Olson and Wendy A. Kellogg. Springer New York. doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0378-8_8.