Theme 5, Blog Post 1: Design Research 

1. By definition empirical data is data acquired through the senses, thought experience and experimentation. Therefore, Fernaeus and Tholander acquire empirical data in the form of observations of children’s interaction with the experimental design in “tangible programming space”, whereas Lundström gathers empirical data through a trial-and-error practical design exploration.

2. I believe it can be considered “knowledge contribution”, perhaps even more so than quantitative and qualitative research, I would say, because it is practical and as such explores the real world hands-on, through actual experience and every mistake helps the researchers learn and guides them in the right direction, even if they still have a long way to go.

3. The choice of design intentions is… well, intentional depending on the goal of the researchers. In both readings on the theme, the research revolves around the user experience of a piece of technology – the children and the electric car driver. In both cases, the design intentions are aimed at improving the design (in general) of the technology being researched for the benefit of the user.

4. If I understand the question correctly, I would say it is replicable. Innovation in technology is never-ending and improvements can vary – from insignificant to huge. Therefore, one might think it would be useful to conduct new research on a more recent, yet negligible, technological improvement, using “old” tools or to research an “old” improvement using new tools, or exploring small new improvements with the help of new tools.  

5. I think an important difference between design research and other research practices is that the former is open about its subjectivity and its aim for a certain outcome, as well as about the reasons behind this subjectivity, whereas the latter usually strives to be as impartial as possible and to avoid skewing the information towards a desired result.