The Current State of the Practice: A Look into the Protective Design Industry

The protective design industry has to adapt to new threats and challenges facing the industry constantly. As a result, invested stakeholders within the industry must take a critical look at the current state of the practice. By assessing the current protective design industry, one can identify both challenges and opportunities within it and provide insight into how to improve the industry. This study aims to understand the current state of the protective design industry through an analysis of protective design literature and interviews with protective designers. Both academic literature (conference papers and journal articles) and design guidelines showcase the current trends and challenges within the industry. While understanding the protective designer's perception of their role help explain how protective designers engage within the design process with other design stakeholders. Together, both the literature and the people will dictate the current state of the protective design industry. Lastly, this study has developed a database for protective design guidelines that both protective designers and other design stakeholders can utilize to search for a comprehensive database.