ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses why and how researchers and scholars in design should and could become more proactive at overcoming barriers to collaboration with colleagues in other disciplines. Seeking cross-disciplinary partnerships has become vital in the face of a complex world filled with seemingly intractable challenges. Specialized knowledge lodged deep within siloed disciplines inherently limits its potential to address situations that involve diverse communities and their wildly varying expectations. Moreover, investigators from within and outside of design are finding that while their accepted theories and methodologies are necessary, they are not sufficient for achieving larger transformative ends. With this need for collaborations in mind, the authors identify key stumbling blocks to cross-disciplinary working methods and how these barriers—theoretical, structural, and perceptual—can begin to be addressed and overcome. In a “both-and” rather than an “either-or” approach, the authors suggest ways to develop shared language and understandings which can help to overcome tacit biases and create investigative spaces conducive to fruitful negotiations and collaborations. Moving from theory into practice, the authors also examine two key methods common to design research, and then explore how these can function not only as valid investigative tools but also as effective scaffolding for building common ground among research partners across disciplines.
