Dissertation - Research Methods

For my research, I would say I started out like most people with researching on the internet. From here, I started to move towards papers, and books. Other research I am planning to conduct, will depend on the stage of the project I am at.

We have come across so many useful papers in our two semesters here already that I feel are relevant to my project and am also coming across discussions on a daily basis that I am finding interesting for my area. With some of the papers that I felt were not as relevant such as Cultural Probes, I still found it usual as it helped me rule out research methods that were not relevant to my work.

I would like to get my information from as varied areas as possible. So not only do I plan to continue looking at papers, reading books, conducting internet research etc but i would like to visit exhibitions and shows that could be relevant or inspiring. I hope to visit a number of exhibitions and shows based in Ireland and the UK. I feel these could help to inspire me and start to get the creative juices flowing. One in particular that I would like to see is is the fashion exhibition by Hussein Chalayan.

Currently the Design Museum in London is exhibiting work by Hussein Chalayan, a British Fashion Designer. Chalayans exhibition includes designs using innovative materials and incorporating technology into his designs. Certain items use LEDs, aircraft materials that change shape by remote control, and lasers to create light shows. I am considering going to see this to in order to get inspiration, see these materials in a working form.

Other qualitative research that I am planning to carry out will include participant observations and how they react to the interactive system. Participatory design will be the approach I shall be taking when it comes to designing, I feel it is important that when one is design for people that people are actually included in the process and consulted in order to get a more appropriate solution. Keeping a video diary to record these interactions where possible could be quite useful in order to capture people physical reaction to the objects as it will give an indication to their feelings whether positive or negative. I also feel that informal interviews should be run in parallel to compliment the relaxed approach to gathering information. As the design intended is suppose to be enjoyable / relaxing and for home use, I do not feel it would make sense to have really structured and rigid interviews etc.

Throughout Semester Two’s Principles of Interactive Media module, I have found that the group seminars have been very helpful to me and my dissertation. With particular regard to the last one we participated in, Loraine Clarke’s seminar on Tangible Interfaces. This has been particularly relevant and I will be looking into the area more.