Theme 5 - Design research

-  How can media technologies be evaluated?
It seems to me that media technologies can be evaluated in terms of both hardware and/or software in order to create an experience or to be used as a tool. In the research, one could create a prototype and analyze it or analyze an existing technology.
-  What role will prototypes play in research?
In order to test a concept, I think a prototype can be of great help in the research. It has practice details that is harder to get in for example a survey.
-   Why could it be necessary to develop a proof of concept prototype?
I think it is, in order to demonstrate the possibilities of the concept and to show that the prototype does what it is expected.
 -  What are characteristics and limitations of prototypes?
One limitation is that the prototype is not the final product and thus can’t be fully evaluated. However, if one wants to, it can go fast to make one prototype and it can be cheap. The prototype can also be more advanced as well [4].
I think another limitation can be that you won’t be able to test the prototype in a larger scale in the case of a physical device. Thus, it can still contain errors which you can’t detect due to them occurring only in rare cases.
-  How can design research be communicated/presented?
I am not sure if I answer the question correctly, however I believe it can be done through example a paper in a journal in the field of research which can be used as reference for further research. I think it can also be done through the development of a final product and making the product heard of.

“Finding design qualities in a tangible programming space” & “Differentiated Driving Range: Exploring a Solution to the Problems with the “Guess-O-Meter in Electric Cars”
- What is the 'empirical data' in these two papers?
I believe it is the observation of the activities and prototypes in the paper “Finding design qualities in a tangible programming space” ([2],p.448).
In the paper “Differentiated Driving Range: Exploring a Solution to the Problems with the “Guess-O-Meter in Electric Cars” [3] I believe the keyword was “explore” where did they did some analysis on the current state of driving range and the tools, then proceeded with a concept which they tested ([3],p.2). The ‘empirical data’ here I think is the whole observation of these processes.
- Can practical design work in itself be considered a 'knowledge contribution'?
Perhaps in the designing process, you stumble upon issues in the process which you try to overcome and thereby learn from.
- Are there any differences in design intentions within a research project, compared to design in general?
In the research project I think that you are more focused on just achieving what is needed for the analysis, you might not want to overwork the design as its purpose was not to reach an end user but for evaluation only. Thus, in the end it may only be for the researcher to test out or for participants who understands the purpose of a prototype.
- 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?
As far as tech domain goes, I think it can be replicable however there could be very little value to it. The reason I believe so is that technology can change quite rapidly. For example, the paper “Turn Your Mobile Into the Ball: Rendering Live Football Game Using Vibration.” [5] uses a mobile phone in the research which is not equivalent to today's smart phone. Because of the way we interact with the mobile phone today and the capacities it have, might have lead to different research approach in the paper.
- Are there any important differences with design driven research compared to other research practices?
I think a major difference is the practical approach in a design driven research. You further make improvements in the design [1] which for example can evolve into a product later.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_research
[2] Fernaeus Y., Tholander J. (2006). “Finding design qualities in a tangible programming space”.
[3] Lundström A. (2014). “Differentiated Driving Range: Exploring a Solution to the Problems with the “Guess-O-Meter in Electric Cars”.
[4] http://cs.brown.edu/courses/uxisp/slides/prototyping.pptx Brown University - User Experience, Independent Study Project. Retrieved October 2015.
[5] Réhman, S., Sun, J., Liu, L., & Li, H. (2008). Turn Your Mobile Into the Ball: Rendering Live Football Game Using Vibration. IEEE Transactions on Multimedia, 10(6), 1022-1033