Design research is the practice of gathering information about users, their behaviors, and their environments in order to inform and validate design decisions. This week we introduce core methods and discuss how to apply them to tool development.
Agenda
- Group presentations — each group presents their final tool idea
- Discussion: What is Design Research?
- Assignment briefing
What is Design Research?
Design research involves a range of qualitative and quantitative methods for understanding the people who will use a product or tool. The goal is to ground design decisions in real user needs rather than assumptions.
Key methods include:
- Field research: Observing and interviewing users in their natural environments to understand how they work and what problems they face.
- Contextual inquiry: Combining observation and interviewing to understand the context in which a tool will be used.
- User stories: Short, simple descriptions of a feature told from the perspective of the person who desires the new capability.
- Competitive analysis: Examining existing tools to understand what works, what doesn't, and where opportunities lie.
Key Questions for Tool Research
When researching a new production tool, consider the following questions:
- Who are the intended users of this tool? What is their level of expertise?
- What are their current workflows? What tools do they currently use?
- What are the pain points or inefficiencies in their current workflow?
- What assumptions are we making about how users will interact with the tool?
- How can we test those assumptions before building the full tool?
Assignment
For next week, each group needs to conduct field research and prepare a presentation on the group's findings. For further details, please see the assignment section of the What is Design Research? document shared in class.