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The Designer Identity, Identity Evolution, and Implications on Design Practice

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Design Thinking Research

Part of the book series: Understanding Innovation ((UNDINNO))

Abstract

This chapter describes the preliminary results of a study of designer identity, including what a designer identity is, how it evolves as a result of ongoing work-related interactions, and how it may influence design work practice. In our ethnographic research, we closely observed 12 in-house designers as they did their work in a major Chinese communication technology company. We found that designers identified with the design occupation in different yet non-mutual-exclusive ways, and that the way in which designers identified themselves influenced their creative thinking, brainstorming processes, and interactions with clients.

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Correspondence to Pamela Hinds .

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Liu, L., Hinds, P. (2012). The Designer Identity, Identity Evolution, and Implications on Design Practice. In: Plattner, H., Meinel, C., Leifer, L. (eds) Design Thinking Research. Understanding Innovation. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-31991-4_10

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