Method of Measuring the Impact of Art and Design in Applied Science

The aim of the project is to investigate the innovation-promoting effects of a combination of art, design and applied science. In the future, these findings are to be incorporated into the research practice of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and should lead to an increased integration of the interdisciplinary cooperation of art, design and science into the research processes of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.

Background

How can habitual paths of thought be broken, how can perspectives be changed and innovations promoted? A cooperation between art, design and science can contribute to the development of new ways of thinking or to changing perspectives through the methodology inherent in them. Intensive interdisciplinary collaboration can particularly facilitate research processes and outputs. However, the effects of integrating art and design into the innovation processes of applied research are not always obvious and difficult to measure.

Project

Numerous projects of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft have already demonstrated the manifold effects that a cooperation of science, art and design can have. In order to systematically assess these effects, the first step was to determine a system of quantitative and qualitative indicators on the basis of an interview study and a literature analysis. In a next step, these indicators will be further developed and validated by means of socio-economic research, including the interdisciplinary residencies of the Fraunhofer network "Science, Art and Design". The systematic collection of data will enable the Fraunhofer Institutes to evaluate their own art and design-based activities in the long term and to assess their effects in a comparative manner.

Project tasks

The further development of the key indicator system is conducted, among other things, through the accompanying research of the "Artist in Lab - Duality" programme of the "Science, Art and Design" network. In this context, the potential of integrating art and design in technology-related projects is to be assessed with the help of a before-and-after analysis. Based on the results, an aggregated art and design index in the form of a scoring model will be developed, as well as a systematic procedure for determining the indicators developed within the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.

Project client

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft

Projekt partners

Steinbeis-Transferzentrum Marketing, TU Chemnitz

Project duration

01.07.2018 – 31.12.2020