Theme 5 - Design research (1/2)

1.      How can media technologies be evaluated?

The paper argues that usability within media technology can be evaluated through three aspects; effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction. Studying the effectiveness means looking at whether the user can accomplish a task within the system. Studying the efficiency means looking at how much effort is required by the user in order to complete the task at hand (e.g. reaction time). Studying the satisfaction means looking into the comfort and acceptability the user experiences when using the system.

2.      What role will prototypes play in research?

Prototypes are a valuable asset that can help improve the design and functionality of the final product.  A risk within research is that you miss flaws and errors in design because you become blind towards your own product. Therefore, it is helpful to gain insight into how someone with no previous connection to the product interacts with it in order to improve the product. Testing a prototype helps researchers figure out if the product is easy to use and if there are problems that they had not thought of.

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

Before creating a prototype it could be necessary to develop a proof of concept prototype to see if the idea is actually feasible. In this step, researches take a look at whether or not the product can be developed to meet certain criteria and to see if the product has enough potential of being used that the research should move forward.

4.      What are characteristics and limitations of prototypes?

Prototypes are useful as they allow testing of a product before launching it. This enables improvement of previously unknown errors or flaws to increase usability. It also gives insight into how people with no knowledge about the product interact with it which gives room for adjustment to the user’s behavior and expectations. Since it is not the final product being tested there are limitations (e.g. low quality) which may affect the test results. The prototype may also be missing certain functions which limits the testability.

5.      How can design research be communicated/presented?

Design research can be communicated and presented in several different ways depending on what the product is and what features are important to convey. It could be by using prototypes or models for a more detailed presentation or by using sketches, pictures and maybe even videos for a more basic presentation. In my opinion, choosing the presentation form depends on how complex the design research is and how you can present it so that your audience can understand it.

_____________________

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

In both the papers the empirical data is the data collected from testing the prototypes. In the paper by Anders Lundström empirical data is also data collected from interviews.

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

I think this is possible as practical design work reveals information about e.g. usability that can be used in other cases than the specific research case. A paper might conclude that “drag and drop” functionality is more intuitive than roll-down menus. Or that a certain icons mean different things to different people which limits the understanding of the product. These findings could then be adapted by others in order to improve their products without doing extensive research on their own.

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

I think that a difference may be that within a research project you are more open to change as you plan on testing a prototype after which you expect modifications to be made. In design in general I think that the person/organization building the product is more closed off and finishes the design according to their own plan without being as open for alterations.

4. Is research in tech domains such as these ever replicable? How may we account for aspects such as time/historical setting, skills of the designers, available tools, etc? 

I think it is replicable to a certain degree, but as technology is developing so fast there is only a small window of opportunity where this is possible with the same time/historical setting. Regarding the skills of designers, in every study the researchers affect the result with their preconceptions. I don’t think that the replicability is affected within tech domains more than any other field.

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

A main difference is that design driven research is qualitative, empirical and iterative and the method needs to be more worked out in detail than quantitative methods in order to provide sufficient results. Other research types are often more focused on gaining new knowledge.