Research through design (RTD) provides a means for researchers to investigate a problem area in a generative manner that is valuable, different, and complementary to phenomenological, experimental, and other established research approaches. RTD is special because it harnesses the ‘power’ of designing to question, speculate on, ideate, prototype, test, and critically appraise the qualities of human and other-than-human futures before they become reality. Although RTD has been practised in various forms since the 1960s, the last 25 years have seen the approach became popularly adopted and studied. To encourage high-quality submissions to Designing journal, this paper provides an express orientation for RTD, putting forward methodological considerations that may be regarded as fundamental yet open to diverse responses and positions. The considerations cover the following: what RTD is and isn’t; who does the designing; decisions on design processes; research prototypes as focal points; demands of multiple roles; and the necessity of documentation.
Owain Pedgley (Tue,) studied this question.