Abstract: The design anthropology is a crossing research field derived from the development of design industry and the self-reflectivity of anthropology, which emerged in the 1990s and became established in the 2010s as an academic paradigm. It has two major research approaches: applicative and critical. Greatly influenced by the thoughts of anthropology of arts and sociology of science and technology, design anthropology views design as an active process rather than a material outcome. Therefore, design is not only the structural projection of cultural meaning and social order, but rather the exact process of social and cultural generation. This paradigm shift from outcome to process leads to the establishment of design anthropology. Semiotic approaches and Actor-network-theory are the two main approaches to exploring the process of design. As the contemporary societies are ever-changing, the structuralized methodologies taking “culture and society” as their core conceptualizations have been confronting constant challenges. The exploration into the design of/for “process” has an indubitable significance for the future development of anthropology.

Key words: design process, design anthropology, actor-network theory, semiotic approaches