Theme 5: Design Research (in 2 parts)

For the lecture on Wednesday 
Turn Your Mobile Into the Ball: Rendering Live Football Game Using Vibration - Réhman, Sun, Liu, Li

How can media technologies be evaluated?

I believe there is many different way to evaluate media technologies, since the term ”media Technologies” are a broad concept. Réhman, Sun, Liu, Li  evaluate the mobile phone by creating a prototype and tried it with different experiments, both looking in to the technical aspects and also into the users experience. 

What role will prototypes play in research?

There are two different types of prototypes, low-fidelity and high-fidelity. A low-fidelity prototype is a non working, often drawings of the planned concept that helps the researcher in the very early step in concept building. A high-fidelity prototype is a working model of the concept that can be tested on the users. This kind of prototypes can help the researchers to try out concepts in an earlier step in the process, without having to develop a finished product. It can help the researcher to understand the users experience and need of the future product.

Why could it be necessary to develop a proof of concept prototype?

By using a well developed and well designed prototype it is possible that user might look at the graphical deign rather than the functionalities, and in many cases this might be an issue. A proof of concept prototype is a prototype that shows the functionality or the concept, which could be a handy tool in the early stage of the research.   

What are characteristics and limitations of prototypes?

The characteristics of prototype is that they are not the finished design or product. Therefor are prototypes limited in material and cost. The best material might be too expensive, and then a cheaper substitution is often used. 

How can design research be communicated/presented?

One way of presenting design research is how Réhman, Sun, Liu, Li presented their research. They focused on the method, where they explained everything about the prototype and all the aspects of the usage very well. The result of their research were presented as numbers where they compared the users technical skill but they also used the answers they got from the interview questions. As a reader you got a clear image of the concept, and when reading the result you got a better understanding because you are aware of the method.

For the lecture on Friday 

Finding design qualities in a tangible programming space - Fernaeus & Tholander

Differentiated Driving Range - Lundström

What is the 'empirical data' in these two papers?

Emirical data is in the article by Fernaeus and Tholander the result of the qualitative analyses of design prototypes, which was the method they used.  Same in the article by Lundström, the empirical data is collected from the different methods that were used, meaning that the empirical data is the results of the pre-study, state of the art analysis and the interviews.    

Can practical design work in itself be considered a 'knowledge contribution'?

I believe the term ’knowledge contribution’ means knowledge from a research that is based up on already existing knowledge will be added to that knowledge. This would mean if practical design work is considered as a research that will have new findings, the resulting knowledge could be contributed to the already existing knowledge in the subject.  

Are there any differences in design intentions within a research project, compared to design in general?

I do not think so. The design intentions within a research project is to create something new, whether is trying new technologies or new concept. In designing in general, the aim is perhaps more aesthetic but I do think that the intention is still to create something new, something unique.   

Are there any important differences with design driven research compared to other research practices?

I think that design driven research is often qualitative, they are using several methods which gives a lot of data that is up to the researcher to interpret and analyze. I also believe that those types of researches are more likely to involve the construction and the usage of a prototype.