Chapter 5 136 Conclusions A wide variation of design practices and methods such as HCD, DT and UCD are increasingly applied in health research. In our analysis HCD/DT -based projects tended to primarily follow integrated and problem driven approaches whereas UCD-based projects engaged in more functional and solution driven approaches. Most of these design studies used mixed methods approaches, combining qualitative and quantitative research with design methods and frequently referred to the following three design guides: the IDEO Field Guide to Human-Centred Design, the HPI School of Design Thinking Guide and the ISO Standard 9241-210 The increasing use of design-based approaches such as HCD/DT and UCD in health research, subjects them to evaluation according to traditional biomedical standards. However, the analytic approach of the scientific method versus the constructive approach of the design method, impedes an assessment of both methods according to the same standard. To address the validation of design methods, a relativist validation approach that gradually builds confidence in the usefulness of methods could be considered a more appropriate paradigm for design methods, particularly those that are concerned with subjective elements of the design process. Specific standards for the reporting human-centred design practices within health and biomedical research have been developed in recent years. However, these reporting standards remain challenging to apply for single design research papers due to the extensiveness of multi-method design processes in combination with customary word limits in biomedical publications. Separate publications detailing the multiple waves of data collection in design research might be preferable for both researchers and reviewers to support the validity, reliability, and reproducibility of design-based health research. Additionally, innovative publication formats such as registered reports could be used to submit design research protocols and results which are judged on their methodological robustness, rather than the potential novelty of the findings. Furthermore, future research on HCD approaches in health should focus on the development of an HCD practitioner guideline for stakeholder engagement that takes stakeholder roles, experiences, expertise, agency, and power dimensions into account.
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