From our point of view, there is no simple and unambiguous definition of the term design research; rather, it is used divergently in the various fields of design. Only if design is understood in general terms as the questioning of existing things - in order to improve them for people, society and the world - could design research be defined in its most basic sense as the questioning of questioning.

In contrast, a more differentiated distinction can be made between theoretical and practical research. Theoretical design research is academic in nature and encompasses both basic research and cross-disciplinary research in other scientific fields such as history, computer science or sociology. Practical, application-oriented design research takes place both in companies and, increasingly, in higher education. Here, too, the research fields are broadly based and range from materials research and the exploration of new subject areas to customer research or user testing.