Abstract

This paper presents some considerations about dialogue and its relationship to design; seeing it as a key to analyse the design process and to better understand the way of doing and thinking about design. When one tries to define or analyse the design process, concepts which relate, either directly or indirectly, with those of the dialogue process are found. Some definitions of dialogue and observations from research materials are stated to attempt to answer the question: Where does the idea of dialogue come from? This is followed by an analogy between the dialogue process and the design process presentation. The design process from the perspective of dialogue is defined based on the four Cs that comprise these processes: Communication, Culture, Collaboration and Creativity.<p> Conceiving of design as dialogue has theoretical and practical benefits; helping to improve the process of design, the development of flexible design artefacts, encouraging designers and users to resolve complex problems in ways that can lead to elegant and practical solutions.</p>