On legitimacy: designer as minor scientist

  • Authors:
  • Aysar Ghassan;Mark Blythe

  • Affiliations:
  • Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom;Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom

  • Venue:
  • CHI '13 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems
  • Year:
  • 2013

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Abstract

User experience research has recently been characterized in two camps, model-based and design-based, with contrasting approaches to measurement and evaluation. This paper argues that the two positions can be constructed in terms of Deleuze & Guattari's "royal science" and "minor science". It is argued that the "reinvention" of cultural probes is an example of a minor scientific methodology re-conceptualised as a royal scientific "technology". The distinction between royal and minor science provides insights into the nature of legitimacy within contemporary HCI research practice.