Kenya College of Interior Design
Research for designed worlds.
RECEDES brings design science to the questions that shape people, places, products, services and systems across African contexts.
People
Places
Products
Systems
Observe · investigate · make evidence useful
RECEDESDesign science
LEARN IT.PROVE IT.PRACTICE IT.
The centre
Make design knowledge matter.
The Research Centre for Design Science (RECEDES) is KENCID’s home for interdisciplinary, applied inquiry into how designed environments, products and services affect everyday life.
Its research agenda connects design methods with evidence from people and the contexts they live in. The work can inform professional practice, public understanding, innovation and decisions about the systems people rely on.
Start with contextUnderstand the people, place and conditions around a real question.
Work across disciplinesConnect design with technology, health, mobility and society.
Share useful evidenceMake findings clear enough to support learning and informed action.
Research agenda
Ten connected areas of inquiry.
RECEDES brings disciplines together around the ways design shapes experience, capability and quality of life.
Human experience & universal design
Built environment & spatial research
Materials, products & manufacturing
Mobility & transportation design
Digital design & emerging technologies
Health, wellbeing & environment
Sustainability, climate & resilience
African design & indigenous knowledge
Design, economy & society
Interdisciplinary by design. These themes can overlap. A research question about mobility, for example, may also involve universal design, digital systems, health and the built environment.
Research in practice
Observe the world. Build knowledge that can travel.
RECEDES connects research settings, design questions and forms of evidence so that inquiry can be shared beyond a single discipline.
Living labs
Study design in the places where life happens.
Living labs provide a way to examine design questions in real settings and African contexts. They can connect research with communities, users, organisations and practitioners around shared questions.
Design Observatory
Look closely at designed experience.
The Observatory focuses on how environments, products and services shape quality of life across Africa.
Evidence in use
Give findings a clear form.
Research can be communicated through papers, reports, policy briefs, technical guidance, case studies, datasets, prototypes and open resources.
From inquiry to insight
Evidence in forms people can use.
Research outputs depend on the question, method and audience. The aim is to make the work clear, responsible and useful to the people it concerns.
- Research papers
- Policy briefs
- Technical guidance
- Case studies
- Datasets
- Prototypes
- Reports
- Open resources
Research with us
Bring a real question to RECEDES.
Researchers, organisations, government, industry and communities can start a conversation about suitable research, testing or knowledge partnerships.
Start a research conversation- Share a research question or challenge
- Discuss a research, testing or evaluation partnership
- Explore knowledge exchange and dissemination
- Connect a KENCID school or discipline to an inquiry
Contact RECEDES through KENCID
Start with a conversation.
Contact KENCID to discuss research collaboration, design science enquiries or a suitable next step.