A social perspective on the interview technique in design research. Part I: Interviews in design research

Many studies focusing on design activities use the interview technique as part of their investigation. Nevertheless, methodological discussions about the interview setting as the locus of a social interaction between the interviewer and the respondent and its implications for the interpretation of the data obtained are rarely found in publications within our design community. Part I of this publication reviews the positions taken on that matter in different studies of design research. Part II presents the social aspects affecting the interviews on the theme of design activities and the means to identify and deal with these factors. Systematically taking this set of social aspects into account when analyzing interview data makes it likely that the bias induced by social factors can be identified and dealt with. The two parts can be read independently.