design research and research of designers

I ran into this discussion group on the net at core77 discussion board and started to think about it. They talked about design research and how it should be used. One of the posts was concerned about the misuse of design research and one sentence stated that design research is in its infancy.

In my opinion, strategic design would not be even closely as effective, if it didn´t include research. As a strategic concept is a place holder and is quite often formed by researching the overall development, placing the dots where the development is taking you. This is of course the result of research, to be able to depict the development, and also gain the knowledge over the entire field you are working on.

Somehow it is sad that people do the same research phases all over again, like ethnographic research and market analysis, even if they are working on the same task as some worked just a month earlier. Some sort of updateable database should be created that every designer had the chance to go deep to the subject and this way find better solutions by having better tools at hand. The competition seems to be in front of efficient development here.

Other thing that competition is killing, is the possibility to do positive cultural exchange. Designers mostly learn by the side of other designer and should try to travel and work in different work environments for creativity boost and getting the best out of others. Hereby I state that creative designers should go and make a "work exchange", get an insight from the newcomer and by them selves learn something at the new office. If only there wasn´t competition.