Design research by proxy
Fenne van Doorn, Pieter Jan Stappers, Mathieu A. Gielen · 2013
This paper explores the use of participants as research collaborators in the domain of contextual user research. In participatory- and co-design, users participate increasingly early in the design process. When conducting user research in order to gain contextual knowledge about the lives, experiences and wishes of users, collaborators can be of help in setting up, conducting research and analyzing the data. A case study was conducted to investigate if and how children are able to perform as research collaborators. Children conducted interviews with other participants, and in doing increased their knowledge about people close to them, and about themselves. The gained insights were personal and the used personas proved to be a valuable tool. In the role of researcher, the children discovered similarities and differences between themselves and others. Besides gaining valuable insights from their participants, they accessed and shared their own experiences, so while listening to others, the children got sensitized themselves. In other words, the current study found that next to gathering more data, "super-sources" are created when children become research collaborators.