Design-inclusive UX research: design as a part of doing user experience research

Abstract

Since the third wave in human–computer interaction (HCI), research on user experience (UX) has gained momentum within the HCI community. The focus has shifted from systematic usability requirements and measures towards guidance on designing for experiences. This is a big change, since design has traditionally not played a large role in HCI research. Yet, the literature addressing this shift in focus is very limited. We believe that the field of UX research can learn from a field where design and experiential aspects have always been important: design research. In this article, we discuss why design is needed in UX research and how research that includes design as a part of research can support and advance UX design practice. We do this by investigating types of design-inclusive UX research and by learning from real-life cases of UX-related design research. We report the results of an interview study with 41 researchers in three academic research units where design research meets UX research. Based on our interview findings, and building on existing literature, we describe the different roles design can play in research projects. We also report how design research results can inform designing for experience methodologically or by providing new knowledge on UX. The results are presented in a structured palette that can help UX researchers reflect and focus more on design in their research projects, thereby tackling experience design challenges in their own research.

Keywords:

• UX research
• design-inclusive research
• research through design
• research for design

Acknowledgements

We thank the interviewees for the invaluable information they provided about their projects.

Funding

This research was supported by a Tekes-funded FIMECC UXUS research programme, as well as by a visiting professor grant from Nokia Foundation.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Note that, for ease of reading, in this article the term ‘design’ is generally used as a verb; that is, it refers to the act of designing, rather than to ‘a design’ as the outcome of an act of designing.

2. VINNOVA is the Swedish governmental agency for innovation systems.

3. In Table 2, results from some interviewees are omitted. In those cases no design activities were carried out as part of the research, because: (1) the researcher selected (and sometimes adapted) design activities in ongoing (often: student) projects external to them; (2) the project was just starting, and had not yet arrived at a stage where design was included; (3) the researcher used products and prototypes that had resulted from other projects; or (4) the interviewee was manager of several projects (or a whole research group) around one topic. In such cases, approaches varied within the group, and individual sub-projects were not or hardly discussed, nor was the role of design in those projects.

4. In the table, results from some interviewees are omitted, either because these interviewees are research managers who do not do research themselves or because they are support staff who currently do not do (UX-related) research themselves.

5. Reflective stops can be seen as pauses in ongoing research projects, which are meant for looking at the project from a meta-level: to reflect on issues such as ‘what have we done so far’, ‘what have we achieved’, ‘what is still to be done’ and ‘how to proceed'.