Abstract
Design research as a way of understanding and responding to the world around us has grown significantly over the last decade, particularly in the domain of health. Design can offer a deep interrogation of the complexity experienced by stakeholders in a given health context, engaging in an empathic and creative way to capture lived experience as data that can inform, influence and engender meaningful change. Ordinarily, this data is valued in its contribution towards the intended study aims and is traditionally realised in project reports, academic publications, and lay-person summaries. However, this paper argues that value should be reconsidered to take account of invisible impacts, the unintended outcomes that emerge as a result of engaging and conducting a study. This paper suggests that the underpinning values of participatory design, those of empowerment and valuing lived experience create an opportunity to realise participant contributions and research data in an alternative way.
Keywords
Value, participation, engagement, design research
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2020.302
Citation
Hepburn, L. (2020) Invisible Impact: Revaluing data in design research, in Boess, S., Cheung, M. and Cain, R. (eds.), Synergy - DRS International Conference 2020, 11-14 August, Held online. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2020.302
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Invisible Impact: Revaluing data in design research
Design research as a way of understanding and responding to the world around us has grown significantly over the last decade, particularly in the domain of health. Design can offer a deep interrogation of the complexity experienced by stakeholders in a given health context, engaging in an empathic and creative way to capture lived experience as data that can inform, influence and engender meaningful change. Ordinarily, this data is valued in its contribution towards the intended study aims and is traditionally realised in project reports, academic publications, and lay-person summaries. However, this paper argues that value should be reconsidered to take account of invisible impacts, the unintended outcomes that emerge as a result of engaging and conducting a study. This paper suggests that the underpinning values of participatory design, those of empowerment and valuing lived experience create an opportunity to realise participant contributions and research data in an alternative way.