In an increasingly complex 'problem'landscape, interdisciplinary collaboration is becoming
an important part of design practice. This paper presents research from an EU H2020
funded project which is trialling a new Design-Driven Material Innovation (DDMI)
methodology. The collaborative process, involving designers, scientists and manufacturers,
presents a number of language barriers. For the project to move forward, at the very least,
designers need to understand the material's potential and scientists need to understand …

Design is increasingly being recognised as an important catalyst at various stages of the
product development process, rather than the conventional 'product design'stage. Design-
driven materials innovation (DDMI) for example, involves bringing designers into the
process at the beginning of the material's development to help guide the scientific enquiry
towards an innovation which is desired by design and therefore considered more
marketable. The research presented in this paper is part of a DDMI project where the aim is …