A metaresearch on Engineering Design Research – the case of new Tools and their Implementation

Design research is rather a young realm but has progressed due to generally being used in different disciplines with different methods and theories and expansion in its domain with time. It could be referred to as the process that designers employ to better understand the underlying and often hidden aspirations, requirements, and difficulties of end users, also known as the target audience. Machine learning, big data, and Internet of Things, among other game-changing technologies, have resulted in a massive rise in data, and hence it’s a matter of interest to take an empirical dig on design research to find out how this field has evolved so far because it is still unclear how to analyze the syntax of the design research in terms of approaches, methods and tools used. The objective of this thesis is to give an empirical perspective by creating a database of categorized (based on a previous study by Cantamessa in 2010 on ICED (1997&1999) research papers from the proceedings of ICED (2019&2017) which is one of the most recognized in this domain. The approach includes thorough reading of all the research papers using different techniques by more than one person and code them into five predefined categories with mutual consensus. Based on this dataset an illustrative statistic is developed to compare all four categories. The findings of this thesis can become a pilot to set standards and directions for the community involved.