Differences between design disciplines

The differences between designers from different disciplines is not one of process or evaluation, or even the specific interests and abilities of the designer, but of constraints. Product designers work with the constraints offered by every day objects, graphic designers with 2D mediums and typography, interior designers with the relationship between people and space while architects with the built environment. These constraints are not just limited to the medium, they gather complexity and borrow from other disciplines to varying extents depending on the context of the design outcome and discipline in which the designer works. Fields such as: anthropometrics — the size of people for the use of physical objects; physiology — the way bodies work for the design of man-machine systems; psychology — how the mind works for when interacting with computer systems; sociology — how people relate to each other for the design of social systems; anthropology — how people from different cultures interpret meaning for global design; ecology — how the living world works to ensure sustainable design. Once a designer is trained and has worked within one discipline it feels normal and natural to continue working within those constraints. So while designers will usually follow a similar process and evaluate against a similar criteria the variety of their experience within constraints is the key to generating innovation and that’s why using a multidisciplinary team can create a better outcome.