Demystifying verification and validation in design research methodology – from underdeveloped practice to methodological rigour

Design research aspires to be both scientifically credible and practically meaningful. Verification and validation (V&V) are central to these dual goals: verification demonstrates that we do things right, whereas validation establishes that we do the right thing. In design research, particularly in computational and AI-enabled strands, validation of problem context, stakeholder needs, and decision-making is often assumed rather than explicitly demonstrated. Using a What → How → Use lens, this article clarifies the distinct roles of verification and validation, exposes recurring pitfalls in current practice, and envisions a risk-informed V&V pipeline for design research. We argue that evidence should be proportional to the decisions a method is intended to support and the consequences of being wrong, and that validation must be treated as a core methodological concern alongside verification. Design research attains methodological rigour when problem validation is pursued with the same care and discipline as solution verification.