Research through Design (RtD) is a research approach that utilizes design thinking and practices to produce new knowledge, rather than commercially successful products. It focuses on three primary practices: the Lab, which combines design and experimental evaluation; the Field, which uses participatory and user-centered design; and the Showroom, which critically examines design's objectives. RtD involves selecting a problem and practice, designing solutions through literature review and fieldwork, evaluating ideas through prototypes, reflecting on learnings, and repeating the process to further investigate situations.
3. introducing
Research through Design (RtD)
A research approach, according to Zimmerman & Forlizzi (2014):
● Utilises design thinking and practices
● Focuses on producing new and valuable knowledge
4. RtD does not
Focus on creating commercially successful products,
unlike the commercial practices.
5. 3 primary practices
● The Lab;
● The Field; and
● The Showroom.
(Koskinen et al., 2011)
6. the Lab
combines design with experimental evaluation processes from
traditional psychology.
(Zimmerman and Forlizzi, 2014)
7. the Lab
lets innovations to be created more freely and evaluated their
novelties through analytic and experimental methods
(Koskinen et al., 2011; Zimmerman and Forlizzi, 2014)
8. the Field
is founded on participatory design and user-centred design
methods
(Zimmerman and Forlizzi, 2014)
9. the Field
promotes iterative process with rapid prototyping,
focuses on generating new and valuable knowledge
with the involvement of users in the field
(Zimmerman and Forlizzi, 2014)
10. the Showroom
critically goes from the design itself to the users
(Dunne and Raby, 2001)
forces people to reconsider the world and
to notice aspects too often overlooked
(Koskinen et al., 2011; Zimmerman and Forlizzi, 2014)
11. the Showroom
emphasises that design
“has other objectives than to help people
and to improve the world”
(Zimmerman and Forlizzi, 2014)
13. Select
● Choose the problems/opportunities
● Choose the context, target and/or
theoretical framing
● Choose which RtD practice to follow,
or combine two of the practices
● Choose the exemplars to guide the
process
14. Design
● Conduct literature review
● Conduct fieldworks, design
workshops
● Search to understand the current
states and how they might offer new
perspectives and problem framings
15. Evaluate
● Create new product/service ideas
● Then select one idea and
refine it into a completed form
● Continue to evaluate and challenge
the initial framing based on the
chosen RtD practice
● Document the actions, their
rationales, and how things did and did
not work out
16. Reflect & Disseminate
● Reflect on their framing and evolution
of their work
● Reflect on what they have learned
● Share the research and knowledge i.e.
publications, demonstrations, videos.
17. Repeat
“researchers who produce the best
research results do so by repeatedly
investigating the same situation”
(Koskinen et al., 2011; Zimmerman and Forlizzi,
2014)
18. Works Cited
Koskinen, I. et al. (2011) Design Research Through Practice. [electronic resource] : From the Lab, Field, and Showroom. Burlington :
Elsevier Science, 2011.
Zimmerman, J. and Forlizzi, J. (2014) ‘Research through design in HCI’, in Ways of Knowing in HCI, pp. 167–189. doi:
10.1007/978-1-4939-0378-8_8.
