Both Mat Malpass and Bruce and Stephanie Tharp have tackled fields of practice in design. Theirs are fascinating efforts to delineate areas of practice. They both open up the field of design to conceptual and critical realms and also might become problematic as they continue to suggest boundaries of practice.
On the whole I think this kind of endeavour is essential to design practice to augment the production of critical and conceptual work. For design to exist beyond commercialism it needs encouragement and communities of practice to exist beyond.
Its interesting that both of these works come from the fields of product/industrial deisgn (in common with Dunne and Raby's Speculative Everything). I'm very interested in something broader that considers artistic practice as a whole. Though fine art, architecture and other modes of practice are mentioned (particularly by Malpass), design is still an outer boundary. I think fine art has a lot to gain by looking beyond its walls, conceptual design of course is treading ground often occupied by artists. What are the key desires and concerns of all practitioners here.
Texts referred to:
Between Wit and Reason: Defining Associative, Speculative, and Critical Design in Practice