Establishing criteria of rigour and relevance in interaction design research

Abstract

Interaction design research is a unique discipline embracing practicing professionals, design educators and academic researchers, but attracting attention from people with different backgrounds and interests has lead to the question of what constitutes ‘good research’. What is rigorous and relevant interaction design research and how do we recognise and evaluate it? Most current attempts at dealing with these issues tend to be on loan from other disciplines, and may overlook, conceal, or knowingly exclude some of what makes interaction design research such a unique field. Our primary contribution is that what may be perceived as three different design research activities—design practice, design exploration and design studies—have their own purposes, intended outcomes, and internal logic. Each approach must be examined in its own right and the notions of rigour and relevance have to be based on a firm understanding of the particular purpose of each approach.