The poster documents a student research project at the HAWK University of Applied Sciences and Arts that investigates how a “specialist discourse” of design is produced through everyday communication, methods, and project practices. Motivated by a contribution to a book project supervised by Konstantin D. Haensch, the team framed its inquiry around cultural theory’s distinction between everyday, inter-, and specialist discourses, asking which terms and linguistic patterns characterize design work at the faculty.

Methodologically, the group first considered story-listening interviews but shifted—after consultation—to a questionnaire-based mixed approach combining quantitative breadth with open-ended qualitative answers. The survey targeted students, professors, and research staff and was structured around phases of the design process (project start, preparation, methods, stakeholders, evaluation, and closure). A final narrative prompt asked respondents to describe a personal design process in full sentences, enabling linguistic analysis beyond keyword lists. Participation was incentivized through campus vouchers, and responses were largely anonymous.

From 49 participants, the researchers mapped clusters of recurring terms across phases—such as briefing, planning, and re-briefing in preparation; entwurf and feedback during development; and client, target group, and team when naming actors. The results suggest that language closely mirrors practice: design is framed less as “work” than as project-based, iterative collaboration, with strong emphasis on testing and external critique.

In their reflection, the team notes that while the visualization foregrounded frequency patterns, future analysis could compare linguistic differences between students and teachers or across specializations. They also identify survey fatigue as a limitation and propose shorter, more motivating instruments for follow-up studies. Overall, the project demonstrates how survey design, open textual prompts, and visual clustering can function as a research-through-design approach to studying disciplinary language and culture.