Exploring Common Understandings and Bodily Experiences of Vulnerability in Design Researchers in Sensitive Contexts

Design researchers are increasingly being exposed to stressors while empathizing with their participants such as feeling emotionally charged, leading them to feeling vulnerable. Currently, there is a lack of clear consensus on how this vulnerability arises and manifests, hindering both individual and collective awareness and support. To address this gap, we conducted an empirical investigation into the vulnerability of design researchers. We conducted exploratory workshops with PhD students working in the field of design research in sensitive settings. The workshops consisted of three approaches to understand researcher vulnerability: (1) Reflecting on individual and collective vulnerability, (2) Exploring embodied experiences, and (3) Establishing a collective narrative. Through these approaches, we contribute an understanding of design researcher’s vulnerability, which changes over time, is manifested in bodily experience, and poses systemic challenges.