This article presents guidelines for developing a critical documentation practice; a generative approach to documenting design research which emphasises drawing out the interplay between design practice and literature/precedents, to build a ‘credible evidence base’ for scholarly reporting. The guidelines are targeted at design researchers – particularly students and designers new to scholarship – conducting design practice as a mode of inquiry. The guidelines facilitate capturing and critiquing four categories of research activity: creating progressive overview maps, analysis of contextual anchors (key literature and practice precedents), reflective experiment logs (of iterative design processes) and peer critique. The guidelines are contextualised within design literature and pedagogy. A case study demonstrates how insights from a critical documentation practice drive both design and research agendas of a project.

本文介绍了开发关键文档实践的准则；一种记录设计研究的生成方法，该方法强调指出设计实践与文献/先例之间的相互作用，从而为学术报告建立“可信的证据基础”。该指南针对的是设计研究人员，尤其是刚获得奖学金的学生和设计师，以设计方式进行调查。该准则有助于捕获和批判研究活动的四类：创建渐进式概览图，分析上下文锚点（关键文献和实践先例），反思性实验日志（迭代设计过程）和同行批评。指导原则在设计文献和教学法中进行了背景说明。