The Form Design of the Datacatcher: A Research Prototype

This pictorial exposes aspects of the decision-making process during the form design of a research prototype called the Datacatcher: a mobile electronic device that receives a continuous stream of location-based sociopolitical messages. Manifesting a physical device generated a myriad of demands on top of our research agenda that included issues with both technology and manufacturing. This pictorial will demonstrate how research through design has to tackle issues beyond core research questions in creating research devices, and suggest that because such seemingly irrelevant concerns are crucial for how research questions are embodied, those concerns themselves become integral to the research.