SCOPE - Design thinking is the most used method of design within the faculty of design engineering. Design thinking methodology has three pillars, technical feasibility, user desirability and business viability. Every designer should design on the limits of new technology, make products that people want to use, all while maintaining a feasible business strategy.

Bende uses the term design doing for their way of working. The company focuses on making at an early stage in the design process. Use making as a means of detailing, in stead of detailing on paper or in virtual models.

“What is design doing?“

“How can design doing be applied in a business environment?”

CASE -The main question of the material exploration was;

“What is the impact of doing in stead of reasoning?”

In other words, what happens when a designer tries every material combination he/she can think of in stead of reasoning what the outcome will be? The goal is to do as much as possible and use the results as the criteria for success. When a new material combination is thought off, first thing is to apply it, test it and use the outcome of the test to see whether it is useful/interesting.

A total of 36 different materials combinations were tested during this phase. The outcomes were rated during a workshop. The highest rated experiments were the ones that had properties which are contradictory to what is expected of concrete. Concrete is heavy, hard, cold, geometric and sharp. It does not float, let light through or is shaped organically.


OUTCOME - Design doing has proven to be useful in a business environment. Important factor in the use of design doing is to save the results and outcomes of the testing and experimenting and using it in future projects and this is an area where Bende can improve.

For this purpose a format was created which consists of three steps, document, evaluate and consult. The first step is to document all aspects of a project, the first sketch as well the final result. The second step is to condense all the information of the first step to a manageable amount that shows the essence of a project. Third step is to consult this information in later projects and use it to improve the making process.

For this last step a physical material bank was designed, made and installed in the office of Bende. This bank serves three purposes; remind, inspire and inform. The material is a reminder of all the projects and materials that Bende has worked with. The second is to use the material samples as inspiration during idea generation and setting up new projects. The last purpose is to use the materials to show future partners what Bende has done, is capable of and can offer in a project.