Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Sunday, October 4, 2015
Saturday, October 3, 2015
Seminar #4. Refection
The theme of qualitative and quantitative methods was quite
easy for me as I already know about it and used in my Bachelor thesis. Other students in our seminar groups also
were aware of qualitative and quantitative methods, so we discussed our
bachelor thesis mostly.
In my thesis I used quantitative methods since I developed
decision to analyzing target audience and seasonal trends in touristic agency.
I analyzed sample and used statistic methods. Another members of our group used
such qualitative methods as interview and questionnaire. So it was very interesting
to share experience and know about research subjects of each other.
Then we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of
qualitative and quantitative methods. We all agreed that key reason to decide
what methods are more effective is subject of research. For example, qualitative
methods are widely used for sociological and anthropological studies. In that
case such qualitative methods as interview, questionnaire, and case study allow
to analyze human behavior deeply while quantitative methods allow to get more
general results.
After this seminar I learnt more about qualitative methods
and how they can be applied in different studies.
Friday, October 2, 2015
Theme #5 Part 2
1.
What is
the 'empirical data' in these two papers?
In the first
paper (Fernaeus & Tholander) data was collected using
prototype. In the second paper (Lundström) data was collected
by interviewing and using prototype as well. Also author analysed information
gathered from online forums.
2.
Can
practical design work in itself be considered a 'knowledge contribution'?
Knowledge
contribution means creation new knowledge relying on previously known facts. In
my opinion practical design can be considered as knowledge contribution. Practical
design is created to solve certain problem, but proposed decision can be base
for further research in the same or contiguous areas depending on results and
conclusions that can be made using practical design.
3.
Are there
any differences in design intentions within a research project, compared to
design in general?
In my
opinion design intentions within a research paper aim to answer certain
questions, prove hypothesis and are intended to influence on research subject
or supplement it in certain way. Basically design within research project has contribution
on knowledge. Design in general can be aim to satisfy users’ needs, or has just
commercial application and don’t have contribution on knowledge.
4.
Is
research in tech domains such as these ever replicable? How may we account for
aspects such as time/historical setting, skills of the designers, available tools,
etc?
I think that development of technology made research replicable.
For instance, it’s possible to use the same software, tools, and approaches. On
the other hand, the same research cannot be replicate in another period of time
due to new theories and new knowledges. Designers skills are very individual
and if we are talking about design that needs exclusively human skills it would
be impossible to repeat it.
5.
Are there
any important differences with design driven research compared to
other research practices?
I think
that the main difference is that design driven research is based on observation
of users’ behavior and it uses qualitative research methods.
Theme #5 Part 1
1.
How can media technologies be evaluated?
In this paper proposed method of media technology
(experimental system) can be evaluated by several key points.
Users satisfaction – how users are comfortable
with using system. Users satisfaction can be measured by questionnaire.
Efficiency – how much time and efforts the
system requires to complete the task.
Effectiveness – how the system works, can be
evaluated by calculation number of errors in particular period of time.
2.
What role will prototypes play in research?
Prototype as preliminary version of final
product plays significant role in research. Final product is based on prototype,
but can have additional facilities and improved functions. Prototype is tested
in different conditions in order to reach perfect combination of functions,
facilities, etc., of final product.
3.
Why could it be necessary to develop a proof
of concept prototype?
A proof of concept (POC) or a proof of principle is a realization of a certain method or idea
to demonstrate its feasibility (Investorwords.com)
. Therefore developing of a proof of concept
prototype is necessary to prove the implementability and capacity of final
decision (product). Proof of concept allows to probably change the direction of
research before creating prototype, if, for example, feasibility is not
reached.
4.
What are characteristics and limitations of
prototypes?
There are pragmatic and practical limitations
to the ability of a prototype to match the intended final performance of the product
and some allowances and engineering judgments are often required before moving
forward with a production design (Modelling and Simulation Fundamentals. John A. Sokolowski, Catherine M. Banks).
Investigation of prototype’s limitation allows
to develop certain characteristics of final product. The goal is to understand
the limitations of prototype and to lower the risk of failure of final model.
So limitations of ability to match prototype with intended product have to be
studied before developing the final product.
5.
How can design research be
communicated/presented?
Design research presentation depends on
subject of research. I think that design can be presented by prototype, sketches,
photos, videos.
Sources:
1. Investorwords.com
2. Modelling and Simulation Fundamentals. John A. Sokolowski, Catherine M. Banks
Monday, September 28, 2015
Saturday, September 26, 2015
Seminar #3. Reflection
During the seminar we were trying to answer the questions “What
is the theory?” and “What is the hypothesis”.
After discussion in group we made a conclusion that the scientific
theory is based on observation and aimed to explain what had happened. The simplest
example is theory of gravitation: first, it was observed that things all the
time fall down and then explained how it worked.
There are philosophical theories based on ideas and scientific
theories based on empirical data. The goal of creation theory is not just
explain the phenomena, but find the truth. Even if we are talking about scientific
theory, truth is always relative even if it used empirical data. So the truth
can be find just through philosophical discussions and explanation of results.
It was unclear for me to understand the difference between
theory and hypothesis and define what comes first theory or hypothesis. Hypothesis
is connected with theory, but related to narrow subject. I can say that
hypothesis is a guess how objects relate to each other. Basically, hypothesis
is a statement that should be approved or disapproved by test or experiment. In
group discussion we brought up the idea of “theory flow”: Theory →Brainstorm →hypothesis
→methods/tests →discussion.
If I explained what theory is to first-year student, I would
say that theory is framework or structured knowledge based on that framework
rules that explain how and why processes or phenomena work.
After the seminar I understand better what the theory is and
what the hypothesis is. I liked the definition of theory by our teacher “Theory
is what practice is not.”
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