Design in time of transformation: metatheory or practical methodology

Staying in touch with reality has become one of the most important goals of the current design discourse, which is being diluted by the speculative metatheories that lay claims to self-sufficiency and universality. The neopragmatist communication paradigm is a way to sustain the practice-based approach in design theory and retain effective tools for creative design solutions. The methodology of semiotic discourse modelling developed under the neopragmatist tenets helps achieve creative freedom, spontaneity, and perceptivity as a mental state sustained by the existing and evolving intellectual patterns. By boosting open and self-evolving design thinking, the methodology of semiotic discourse modelling provides the designer with keys to making a relevant, contextual, and innovative product.