dep.

of Industrial Design
/
TU
Technische Universiteit
Eindhoven
University of Technology e
Prof. dr. Kees Overbeeke
July 18, 1952 - October 8, 2011
In memoriam
In memoriam
full professor at Eindhoven
University of Technology,
dep. of Industrial Design
studied psychology at the
Katholieke Universititeit Leuven
(1974)
PhD at Faculty of Industrial Design
Engineering at Delft University of
Technology (1988)
dep. of Industrial Design
/
TU
Technische Universiteit
Eindhoven
University of Technology e
Prof. dr. Kees Overbeeke
July 18, 1952 - October 8, 2011
Spatial perception
on a flat screen

ecological theory of perception (Gibson)
dep. of Industrial Design
/
TU
Technische Universiteit
Eindhoven
University of Technology e
Prof. dr. Kees Overbeeke
July 18, 1952 - October 8, 2011
In memoriam
headed the Form Theory
group as Associate Professor
moved to the department of
Industrial Design, TU/e in 2002
Nierenberg Chair of Design at
Carnegie Mellons School of
Design in Pittsburgh
headed the Designing Quality in
Interaction group as full professor
(2006 until September 2011)
dep. of Industrial Design
/
TU
Technische Universiteit
Eindhoven
University of Technology e
Prof. dr. Kees Overbeeke
July 18, 1952 - October 8, 2011
Our Beliefs
principles about design and
design research
dep. of Industrial Design
/
TU
Technische Universiteit
Eindhoven
University of Technology e
Prof. dr. Kees Overbeeke
July 18, 1952 - October 8, 2011
ID is about people. It
is about our lives, our
hopes and dreams, our
loneliness and joy, our
sense of beauty and
justice, about the social
and the good. It is about
being in the world.
dep. of Industrial Design
/
TU
Technische Universiteit
Eindhoven
University of Technology e
Being in the world
!"#$#% '())* +,-* .//01.//2
In accordance with
Merleau-Pontys,
Dourishs and others
approaches to
epistemology, we strongly
believe that meaning
cannot be detached from
action. Meaning is in
(inter)action. There is a
primacy of embodiment.
dep. of Industrial Design
/
TU
Technische Universiteit
Eindhoven
University of Technology e
The primacy of action
3(4564 78)964 )9:;6<9) -=* 7:)>?@* .//2
A design theory
must be a theory of
action and the
embodied in the first
place, and of meaning in
the second, and not the
other way round.
Reflection on action is the
source of knowledge.
dep. of Industrial Design
/
TU
Technische Universiteit
Eindhoven
University of Technology e
Reflection on action
3(4564 78)964 )9:;6<9) -=* .//A
The designerly way of
looking is rooted in a
1st person perspective
while intermittently
taking a 3rd person
perspective.
Consequently, design
relies on connecting the
sensorial, intuitive to the
abstract, analytical.
dep. of Industrial Design
/
TU
Technische Universiteit
Eindhoven
University of Technology e
First / third person perspective
=6)#B<#<B C(4 %(#<9) (C D#6E* ./FF
Design can allow for
transformation. It is
about creating
opportunities instead of
solving problems.
To do so, designers use
ambiguity, uncertainty,
open-endedness, and
resistance. They take risks
and dare to fail.
dep. of Industrial Design
/
TU
Technische Universiteit
Eindhoven
University of Technology e
Creating opportunities for
transformation
G("< H6$56)* I"6 J9"64 K4(9"64* .//A
The methods used
must be rooted in
design practice, in the
socio-cultural and multi-
cultural environment,
invigorated by
experimental and
technological methods
from other disciplines.
dep. of Industrial Design
/
TU
Technische Universiteit
Eindhoven
University of Technology e
Design methods
L#B"9 9"4(:B" M:$9:46* N#6<8* ./FF
Design practice and
design research are
powerful generators of
knowledge. They are a
way of looking at the
world and transforming it.
Consequently, design
teaching and research
should be interwoven.
dep. of Industrial Design
/
TU
Technische Universiteit
Eindhoven
University of Technology e
Interweaving practice and research
,D8 =6?@64)* !6'* .//A
Intuition and common
sense should be high
on the agenda and
exploited to the
maximum. Le sens
commun nest pas si
commun, as Voltaire said.
dep. of Industrial Design
/
TU
Technische Universiteit
Eindhoven
University of Technology e
Intuition and common sense
K849 H6<B6D6$;* L#<B:8KO96)* .//P1./FF
Prof. dr. Kees Overbeeke
July 18, 1952 - October 8, 2011
Had I the heavens embroidered cloths,
dep. of Industrial Design
/
TU
Technische Universiteit
Eindhoven
University of Technology e
Aedh Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet;
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams
William Butler Yeats
Dreaming of the
impossible pushes us
to do great things.
dep. of Industrial Design
/
TU
Technische Universiteit
Eindhoven
University of Technology e
Prof. dr. Kees Overbeeke
July 18, 1952 - October 8, 2011
Dreaming of the
impossible pushes us
to do great things.