The logic of design research

Figures & data

Figure 1. The design process consists of seven iterative phases: focus, understand, define, conceive, build, test, and present.

Figure 2. Design argument form as described by van den Akker (1999).

Figure 3. Scientific research methodologies (both qualitative and quantitative) follow a design process and produce products such as theories and models that can be incorporated into the design of another product such as an educational intervention – DR thus recursively nests different scientific processes to do its work.

Figure 4. Stage-dependent search (bottom) can find and validate working intervention with fewer resources than traditional search (top).

Table 1. The seven phases of design and design research process.

Phase	What/why	In research	Challenge	Intermediate products	Example
Focus	Bound the scope of the project /to ensure that the project pursues an important goal that can be achieved with current resources	Include the research community as stakeholder	· Failure to focus on needs; overly broad scope; team formation; balance practice & research	· Brief	· Focus: a digital journalism high-school programme that increases civic and English language arts learning outcomes
Understand	Study learners, domains, contexts, stakeholder needs and existing solutions /to understand the nature and causes of the current situation	Use the methods of design as well as those from all other research methodologies in education	· Methodological expertise; time; synthesis; uncertainty involved in conducting any scientific research	· Models of learners, domain, context, & existing solutions that can aid design	· Digital journalism process, concepts & attitudes · Students’ struggle with interviewing · Students’ linguistic and community resources
Define	Define the problem, including the learning goals, assessments, and constraints /to convert indeterminate situation into a problem that can be solved	Define research question	· Complexity of goals; designing effective measures; alignment of goals, assessment and instruction; prioritisation of learning goals	· Learning goals “how can we ...” statements · Assessments · Research question	· Goal: increase students’ ability to engage audience in civic issue Assess: students’ 5 min video documentaries · Research question: How can online platform help orchestrate learning community
Conceive	Sketch a plan for the solution /to allow designers to test the design against their own knowledge and theory; identify problems and improved solutions before committing to implementation	Articulate novel design arguments	· Planning · Align goals and assessment · Find effective approach /applying principles	· Design arguments · Blueprints	· Design Argument: online platform can orchestrate project learning, mentoring, and interviews with project management & critique tools · Service blueprint including lessons, interactions of teacher, students, mentors sources, and online platform
Build	Instantiate the solution as a usable prototype /to produce an effect	May sacrifice features unnecessary for instantiating theoretical design arguments	· Align with the blueprint · Implement ideas in a specific medium	· Prototypes of different degrees of fidelity	· Mentoring guidelines · Civic journalism lesson plans · Online platform
Test	Evaluate the efficacy of the solution /to determine the success of the design and validity of the theoretical propositions.	Have greater obligation to provide evidence for the effectiveness of the theory/product	· Iterate quickly · Stage appropriate evaluation · Align goals, assessment, and instruction · Generating too much data · Testing complex interactions	· Conclusions about design arguments and blueprints · Empirical evidence	· Qualitative studies of student group critiquing · Online log data · Pre/post assessment of documentary quality · Interviews with students & teachers
Present	Communicate to key stakeholders why the design will better solve a problem that addresses their interests /to ensure appropriate support for the project	Also create presentations, research papers, and grant proposals for the academic community	· Create narratives that justify a design · Explain novel design ideas that are typically not yet instantiated or experienced by the audience · Present compelling arguments why an audience should support the design	· Presentations such as pitches, progress reports or final design · Process books · Research articles · Grant proposals · Design documents	· Presentation to school administration · Research articles · Presentation at practitioner and research conferences · Distribution of curriculum

van den Akker, J. (1999). Principles and methods of development research. In J. van den Akker, R. M. Branch, K. Gustafson, N. Nieveen, & T. Plomp (Eds.), Design approaches and tools in education and training (pp. 1–14). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic. doi:10.1007/978-94-011-4255-7

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