Reasoning before testing the hypothesis: How to preserve the reality of the industrial context

The paper discusses the challenges encountered defining suitable methods to test the hypothesis for research investigating inclusive design in the industry. It outlines the outcomes of an exploratory study with designers and clients in order to describe how the research hypothesis was formulated. The hypothesis considers the impact of information about inclusivity into the design decisions made by clients and designers during design meetings. The paper reflects on ways in which the hypothesis could be tested in order to preserve the scenario as closed as possible to the reality of the industrial process. It considers the advantages and the disadvantages of industrial and laboratory settings. The overall focus is to identify the setting and methods that would result in realistic answer to the research question. The paper concludes by proposing a scenario which could benefit from the current research context without affecting their applicability to design practice in industry.