Quality in research through design projects: Recommendations for evaluation and enhancement

Abstract

There is no consensus on how to judge the quality of Research Through Design (RTD) projects, which makes them difficult to plan and evaluate. In response, this study provides a framework for discussing and positioning RTD projects in terms of quality. It draws on theory on research quality and an original analysis of 25 RTD papers to identify how known quality indicators are applied. Our findings show that most papers align with these indicators, especially those associated with pragmatist research. Nonetheless, there are opportunities to enrich discussions on quality in RTD and we propose recommendations to this end. These recommendations can support more mindful and transparent project planning and reporting, and better assessment of and discussions on quality.