Translation as an explicit practice in design research

Translation as a practice, has many applications and histories. In a research context, the translation of knowledge from one domain to another brings scientific knowledge and critical ideas to people and industries. Translation between different forms of knowledge can enable collaboration between research, industry, policy and society to enable systemic knowledge co-production and impact. This paper explores the ways that design is intrinsically translational, and why translation is now becoming an expanded and explicit practice in design research. As the complexity of multidisciplinary and multistakeholder collaborative research increases, the translational nature of design could play a vital role in convening knowledge and creating impact through synthesis and interpretation into tangible artefacts and interventions. This raises the question: how might design explicitly define its role as a translator in new contexts of research and practice?