ABSTRACT
This chapter tries to fill this gap for the cooperation between a graphic designer and an applied behavioural researcher. It focuses on situations where the designer needs specific knowledge about product users and their behaviour that the designer cannot readily acquire or generate on his/her own strength and therefore seeks the assistance of a researcher. The line of reasoning starts from the notion that conflicts will arise easily when two or more people are involved in a creational process. One of the causes for conflict is a misunderstanding of each other’s problems and the methods to solve them. This chapter begins with a methodological discussion demonstrating that in the case of design and applied research this misunderstanding can be avoided because there are decisive similarities between the two activities. Subsequently, the design and research activities are considered as subsystems of a design project. An indication is given as to how project management can be used to steer a design project to its ultimate goal: a new, graphic, product.
