Planning a design thesis: ways, means and tactics for research through design

"Design is messy and over analysis will stop the flow ... " was the parting line from a colleague after a conversation on design methods. Fo1- many, 'method' is associated with a grim period in a1-chitecture where science held sway. I certainly have no intention of resu1-recting the dogma of that period, but in equal measure I agree with Till (20 12) that painting the design researcher as a heroic genius, marginalises the agency of design research. Despite the various arguments surrounding the value of design as research such as those developed by Downton (2003), van Schaik (2008), or Fraser (2013), there are only a few contempo1-ary resources Uomaka,2008) (Muckenheim and Demel, 2012), which at best provide partial references for students planning a design thesis. If the research emphasis is on designing, then critical knowledge and skills on the ways and means (methods) and tactics for their deployment (methodology) is essential