Reflections "after" / Theme 5

Design research topic was quite new for me. I never read academic papers on this topic, so the structure and the development of one particular idea were quite new and interesting for me. I found the lecture on design research quite nice and (what is more important) applicable to life.

During the lecture we discussed how to come up with ideas and not only how to solve appearing problems, but also how to define the problem. Professor Li gave us nice example of the case of the Hungry Bear and we‘ve got an understanding that you can never solve a problem in a good way, unless you have not defined it right.
The most interesting part of the lecture in my opinion is the discussion about “I have no great idea”. Because sometimes I feel it myself like having the idea, but I understand that it’s not a great one. Haibo gave us some advice how to start our own business – firstly, to validate an idea, get some sort of proof of concept, and even potentially get some customers, then to raise some money.

The seminar on design research I find quite useful because it gave me the sense of structure (I love to have “plans” or structures in my head, it puts in order my thoughts) what design research represents itself. We discussed the fundamental principle of design science research  -  knowledge and understanding of a design problem and its solution are acquired in the building and application of an artifact.

Then, we have been working in two seminar groups discussing the papers and creating the scheme for each one. I found pretty interesting the paper that Fernanda chose (despite it was pretty old – from 2000) – about the  Mobile information and communication tools in the hospital  where the researchers have developed mobile digital assistant as a prototype - the system that examined the application fields of mobile communication in health care environments and then developed the system based on the study. I found the method – simulation study -  quite interesting because it 'does not allow a complete evaluation of technical systems, but rather aims to obtain design proposals for a new technology from experts in the field and from future users' [1].

References: 
[1] Elske Ammenwertha, Anke Buchauera, Bernd Bludaub, Reinhold Haux Mobile information and communication tools in the hospital. Volume 57, Issue 1, January 2000, Pages 21–40 Available: [http://www.sciencedirect.com.focus.lib.kth.se/science/article/pii/S1386505699000568].