Research Through Design for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis

This master thesis explores how to make and use research products to mediate the state of the phenomenal body and generate new knowledge about their meaning for people with health challenges. Specifically, the thesis explores the role technology can have for people with ME in self- monitoring and self-management of their illness, by incorporating new medical research as a design decision in everyday design artifacts. The research process followed a Research through Design approach, making and using a research product called RelaxMe to generate new knowledge about the phenomenon under study. To make RelaxMe, a thorough understanding of the user group and design context was gained. Three exemplars of RelaxMe was then used during a field exploration with four participants, to generate new knowledge about their meaning for people with health challenges. To gain an understanding of the phenomenon of being ill and to design with the phenomenal body in mind, Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology was used as an epistemological foundation and theoretical framework throughout the design process. The findings indicate that RelaxMe mediated human actions related to self-monitoring and self- management of ME, and reduced the experience of shrinkage when struck by ME. Hence, this thesis shows how research products can be created and deployed to mediate the state of the phenomenal body through active involvement of the user group and a phenomenological approach to the design process