Design Informed: Driving Innovation with Evidence-Based Design

This practical, accessible book—for design professionalsand students alike—is about design excellence and how toachieve it. The authors propose an evidence-based design approachthat builds on design ingenuity with the use of research in waysthat enhance opportunities to innovate. They show the power ofresearch data to both reveal new design opportunities and convincestakeholders of the value of extraordinary work. A guide for alldesigners who want to earn their place as their clients' trustedadvisor and who aspire to create places of beauty and purpose, thebook demonstrates:

• An approach to applying evidence to design that neither turnsdesigners into scientists nor requires large-firm resources

• The wide range of types of evidence that can be applicable todesign and where to look for it

• Direct, practical application of the evidence-based designapproaches in use today

• Provides tools to distinguish strong evidence that can improvedesign decisions from misleading assertions resulting from weakresearch

• Benefits of evidence-based design, including improved human andbuilding performance

Two featured case studies illustrate the theory and practice ofevidence-based design. The work of the authors' 2005–2007 AIACollege of Fellows Benjamin Latrobe Research Fellowship provided anempirical foundation for this book, and addresses the use ofrigorous research methods to understand relationships betweendesign choices and health outcomes. The California Academy ofSciences, designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop, Chong PartnersArchitecture, and Arup, provides transparent evidence that enhancesbuilding technology performance in the context of a powerful designexpression.

In-depth interviews and case studies are clustered around threeresearch categories: modeling, simulation, and data mining; socialand behavioral science and the physical and natural sciences; andincluding cutting-edge use of neuroscience to understand humanresponse to physical environments. The twenty-two featured thoughtleaders include: William Mitchell, MIT Media Lab; FredGage, Salk Institute; Phil Bernstein, Autodesk;Sheila Kennedy, Kennedy & Violich; JamesTimberlake, KieranTimberlake; William and ChrisSharples, SHoP Architects; Vivian Loftness, CarnegieMellon University; John Zeisel, Hearthstone; PacoUnderhill, Envirosell; Susan Ubbelohde and GeorgeLoisos, Loisos+Ubbelohde Architecture-Energy; ChrisLuebkeman, Arup; Martin Fischer, Stanford UniversityCIFE; and Kevin Powell, GSA.