About the Journal
PURPOSE
Base Diseño e Innovación is the academic journal of the School of Design at Universidad del Desarrollo, featuring a refereed research section accessible through an open OJS platform. Its mission is to highlight the role of design as a catalyst for innovation, driving processes that enhance quality of life and create social, economic, and cultural value. The journal fosters interdisciplinary academic dialogue, engaging key stakeholders from academia, industry, government, and civil organizations, as well as professionals and scholars from all areas of design. It seeks to spotlight emerging areas of design research and facilitate global collaboration among researchers.
As a fully bilingual journal (Spanish-English), Base Diseño e Innovación bridges language barriers and promotes knowledge exchange between Spanish- and English-speaking audiences. Besides, special issues, led by guest editors, enhance collaboration among academics from various countries and institutions, establishing the journal as a platform for international scientific cooperation.
Published twice a year, Base Diseño e Innovación provides open, immediate, and free access to all content, contributing to the democratization of knowledge and global intellectual exchange. That is, there are no embargo periods and readers do not need to register to access and download content.
The International Editorial Board plays a key role in supporting the editorial team by shaping editorial strategies and enhancing the journal's scientific reputation. Board members contribute by suggesting themes, proposing special issues, recommending reviewers, evaluating manuscripts, and promoting calls for papers as well as the journal's published content.
DISCIPLINARY FRAMEWORK
Building on the definition proposed by the World Design Organization, Base Diseño e Innovación understands design as a strategic problem-solving process that drives innovation in both public and private sectors through the creation of products, systems, services, and experiences in physical and digital formats. Design is inherently transdisciplinary, integrating technologies, needs, and meanings to address complex challenges. It leverages creativity to define problems and co-create solutions, aiming to improve aspects of economic, social, cultural, and environmental realities.
Base Diseño e Innovación understands design research as a systematic, verifiable, replicable, and communicable process of inquiry aimed at addressing theoretical, methodological, or empirical questions within the field of design. Its goal is to contribute to the advancement of new knowledge. As Nigel Cross (1999, p. 9) explains, “the whole point of doing research is to extract reliable knowledge from either natural or artificial world and to make that knowledge available to others in re-usable form.” The object of study in design research can encompass designers, users, products, services, and processes. And research initiatives may be driven by the public sector, the private sector, or academic institutions.
SCOPE AND FOCUS
Base Diseño e Innovación publishes original research articles that explore design from three perspectives: for design, about design, and through design. Research for design—also known as design research or action research—typically involves focused case studies whose findings can be applied to similar scenarios. Research about design examines the discipline itself, including its products, processes, methods, actors, and its societal, economic, or cultural impact. Research through design uses prototypes as research tools, focusing on their role in generating knowledge (Frayling, 1993; Herrera, 2010; Frankel & Racine, 2010; Glanville, 2023).