Research and design are doubly linked: while research is an inherent element of design as a professional activity, academic research must accompany its development as a discipline. At the beginning of the 21st century, coinciding with the rise of interaction design, user experience, and game design, Brenda Laurel compiled a catalog of research experiences in her book Design Research (2003). From this perspective, where advances in design techniques and methods hybridize—more or less organically—with other academic or theoretical aspects of the discipline, other approaches have emerged and consolidated in recent years: co-design, design thinking, universal design, or speculative design, to name a few.

Regarding design research, thirty years after Christopher Frayling’s text Research in Art and Design (1995), several authors broadly agree on the description of three typologies of research conducted in design. Thus, research about design (Cross and Findeli, 1999) is approached from historical, cultural, and other perspectives; whereas research for design (Dorst, 2008; Friedman, 2003; Roth, 1999; Sanders, 2008) is situated within design projects and in any of their developmental stages. Finally, research through design (Jonas, 2007; Findeli, 1995) is conducted using design and its methods to achieve results that can contribute both to design and to other disciplines.

On the other hand, when we align research with the purpose for which design is carried out, we enter the typologies of “design for” (social and climate justice, citizen participation, and democracy, etc.). This field is shaped by social science methodologies: anthropology and sociology of design, STS, etc. Consequently, research is situated at the fertile crossroads of various disciplines.

What perspective does design bring to research? Which methods and principles are fundamental to investigation? What challenges and scenarios arise from the hybridization with other disciplines?

Moving beyond essentialisms and recognizing the multiplicity of approaches in design research, at the international design conference Expanding the Margins, EXM26, we aim to delve into this diversity and its potential to address the challenges of today’s society.

We look forward to seeing you in Barcelona, from December 3rd to 4th, 2026, at the UOC headquarters. We will feature two keynote speeches by international leaders in the field of design.