In Christopher’s Frayling’s seminal account of design-orientated research, he lists research for design, research through design and research about design as the primary modes of research in the field of design. At least since Frayling termed these concepts in 1993, design educators globally have grappled with supervising research through design. While there are many accounts of research through design, few provide clear theory as to how the approach may be applied, least of all in design education. In the field of human-computer interaction, Zimmerman et al.

During the past decade, all the surveys of women’s sizes and measurements show that a significant proportion of the population can be categorised as plus-­size. This is not necessarily something new but rather re-­confirms that there is a large market for the plus-­size garment of all types. Younger women are becoming plus-­size, particularly among “pear-­shaped” South African women of African origin.

These two factors, combined with the ever growing fashion awareness among the general public, make it necessary to develop a sizing chart for the pear-­shaped body characteristics and to re-­evaluate the existing sizing chart in relation to this particular body shape and size category.

Many corporate firms, although operating within this age of information and the knowledge economy, still rely on the skill and expertise of individuals to the extent that the ‘organisational memory’ can be severely weakened when that individual’s store of knowledge (skill, know-how, individual memory of corporate behaviour) ceases to function as an input. This highlights a parallel lack of system in organising collective and strategic knowledge - to collate and retain the most valuable and necessary units of knowledge. These circumstances will be compared to the general technikon situation, in which a related, academic, lack of knowledge management is all too evident.