Learning Design Research

Reignite your design process by using relevant design research. Get an introduction to design research, and learn how critical it is to being able to construct great designs.

Introduction

• Create highly effective design solutions
• Using the exercise files
• Challenges

1. Why Design Research Matters

• Design research is designing in context
• Reignite your design process: Be a better designer
• Add value and credibility to your work

2. Understanding Different Research Methods

• Primary vs. secondary research
• Quantitative vs. qualitative research
• Generative vs. evaluative research
• Market research
• Ethnographic research
• Challenge: Choose which research methods to use
• Solution: Choose which research methods to use

3. Tools for Design Research

• Choose the right research tools
• Literature review
• Competitive analysis
• Observational note-taking
• Photo ethnography
• Questionnaire or survey
• Interview
• Focus group
• Advice for performing research
• Challenge: Taking good observational notes
• Solution: Taking good observational notes
• Challenge: Writing good interview questions
• Solution: Writing good interview questions

4. Creating a Design Research Plan

• Research process overview
• Craft a research plan: KWHL table
• Craft a research plan: The research logic model
• Determine an appropriate scope of research
• Challenge: Creating a design research plan
• Solution: Creating a design research plan

5. Synthesizing and Presenting Your Findings

• Make the most of your research
• Information frameworks
• Experience model: The five Es
• Create personas
• Use personas to help explain your research, part one
• Use personas to help explain your research, part two
• Visualize and document your research
• Challenge: Synthesizing and identifying design opportunities
• Solution: Synthesizing and identifying design opportunities

6. Using Research to Inform Design Solutions

• Utilize research to begin the design process
• User testing and rapid prototyping
• Evaluate the design research process

Conclusion

• Final thoughts
• Additional resources