RESEARCH
What the hell is it and what does it mean to design? To me when I was at college, it was the thing that always popped up on my feedback forms – ‘not enough research’ and when I left college it was the thing my Creative Director always sent me off to do.
In those times it resulted in collecting a lot of information from; the web, the library, the newspaper and magazines. I would skim read half of it and the rest would end up strewn around the house to be eventually thrown out during the next Spring clean or when the girlfriend eventually got sick of it.
So what do we think research means?
The dictionary definition reads:
‘Systematic investigation to establish facts and increase the sum of knowledge; a search for knowledge’
So lets break that down:
Systematic: done according to a fixed plan.
Investigation: to carry out a formal inquiry to examine facts to establish truth.
So they are both saying the same thing; fixed plan, formal inquiry – both point to having some sort of strategy, recipe or formula to building your knowledge.
So what sorts of strategies are there for conducting successful research? Firstly we must admit there are different types of research.
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TYPES OF RESEARCH
Scientific: This is the work done in labs by white coated professionals, where they prod animals or look at things under magnification and compare what we know to find out what we don’t know. This can also include collecting of data to find similarities and contrasts.
Most times scientific research works off the back of previous research, comparing and testing until something new is found. This can be problematic when the previous research is found to be wrong, but that’s the great thing about scientists, they can (normally) accept they are wrong and move on.
Historic: This is the work done in libraries by spectacled corduroy jacket wearing professionals, where they pour over original texts of the written word looking for patterns and ways of life that may be forgotten to us now.
One thing the historian has to be aware of is that someone has written all of what they read and unbiased approaches are normally sadly lacking. All writing has been written for a purpose or agenda, however well meaning that may be. Always remember the saying ‘history is written by the victors.’
Field research is also a big part of historic research where the researcher leaves the library and studies original things in their original environment (a clay pot, an ancient urn, a series of small walls.) This requires a lot of observation before recording and analysis can begin.
Journalistic: Journalists operate in a somewhat similar fashion, although they have the benefit of interviewing living people and sourcing current texts.
The differing between journalists and the previous two is that they are not searching for complete knowledge or understanding of a topic. The journalist has an article to write and only needs enough knowledge to complete it in a timely fashion.
R&D: These are the new kids on the research field. They work similar to scientists and historians in that they pull together a lot of existing facts and information on one problem. One problem they look to solve, in sometimes a brand new way, but normally by adapting an existing solution.
Like the journalist the R&D professional has an objective and doesn’t need to completely understand the topic. They do however have to know a little more so they can apply it to the solution they are trying to produce.
So which is design research most like?
Design research takes a little from each. Like scientists we do the collection of data in order to find similarities and contrasts. Like historians we get out to the original environment to observe and record. Like journalists we interview living people and study current texts (magazines, newspapers and web.) Like R&D we have an objective and have to know how to develop and apply our research to a solution.
Often research is used to find a problem, and this especially true in design research. Once we find the problem we can start to work on a solution. For example a client might be losing sales to a new competitor. Through research we can find out what this competitor has that our client doesn’t. Once we know that we can start to see if something can be done to win back the advantage.
In design research we have to learn all about our client, their field and what their industry involves. The nice thing is we don’t have to do the job. Once our design is finished we can move on to another industry and learn a new set of skills and ideas. If we happen to choose another client in the same industry we can then apply all our previous knowledge. You can see why some studios become professionals in one industry.
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EFFECTIVE RESEARCH TECHNIQUE
Knowing the different kinds of research and how they influence our style of research we can now start to think about effective ways of conducting it. This can be broken down into three main categories:
Collection – This is where we gather all the info indiscriminately. We can do this by Key word searching via the web, library lists or newspaper archives. Start with building a set of key words that you’ll search for and start finding texts that contain them.
Skim read texts looking for associated key words that link you to other texts. Search the bibliography or related article links for even more prospective leads.
Don’t forget to interview people. This can be some of the most important information you get, real people in real time. Remember to always assume and interview is opinion based until you check the facts. Many people will have an agenda, we can’t help it, so take everything at face value and then verify the information.
The idea is that you bring together a healthy amount of info that you can sift through in the next stage. It’s important that you try to collect as much as possible so when you come to the analysis stage you don’t have to keep going and searching for more stuff, you can focus on what it means.
This stage should act very like how we create mind maps, firing on to the next thought, and on to the next, and on to the next, not spending too much time trying to work out what it all means, just collecting and being lead along the trail of discovery.
Analyisis – Then we start to go through the information and work out what is relevant and what isn’t. Carry a highlighter with you at all times; highlight anything that jumps out at you. You’ll also need a pad of paper where you can write down any ideas that might occur to you as you examine each piece of collected info. Write down quotes and who said it. Pick out points people make and get rid of all the stuff you don’t need.
Some people like to develop their own little crime scene by cutting out relevant info and arranging it on pin boards much like detectives do. Whatever works for you. In this stage we are trying to find links and similarities between all the different pieces of information. What goes together and what contrasts. What’s important and what’s not.
Interpretation – We start to form our own ideas based on the facts we have uncovered. This is where we really start to understand the problem we are facing putting it all down in a concise and understandable way that others will be able to follow.
This is probably the hardest bit for most people. Here we have to really think about what is being said and how that relates to our problem. Before this we can act on autopilot, indiscriminately collecting, quickly scanning through it all. From this point we have to make sense of it all and start to apply our knowledge to a solution.
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INTERVIEWING TECHNIQUES
Establishing Rapport
The interviewer should project the positive image of a good person engaged in a harmless but important task. For instance; you should show that you enjoy talking to the interviewee, give them your complete attention and not be threatening in any way.
In other words a good interviewer should; develop trust and mutual respect, speak and act in ways that are non-threatening, cultivate a relatively neutral role but be compassionate and sympathetic towards the interviewee (even if you don’t like him or her.)
Techniques for establishing and maintaining trust: always be honest, prove your motivation by interviewing respondents when it is best for them (not necessarily most convenient for you), always keep your word and don’t promise anything that you cannot keep.
Techniques for establishing and maintaining respect and acceptance: always remain neutral, be aware that the informants are observing and questioning you too.
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Before the interview it's a good idea to start getting some description of the scene - time, date, and place. Make some quick notes that you can come back to and expand upon, through research or creative writing. Get down who's going to be there, who you're interviewing, name, occupation/status - anything important that will help you analyse what was said.
During the interview don't take notes or jot down crucial notes; listen instead. Better still, use a tape recorder. Note taking can be intrusive and make people nervous by continually emphasising they are being observed and preserved.
Guide the interview by asking questions - don’t ask sociological questions. Why questions should be translated into how questions. Why questions often result in justifications. How questions tell you something about the process. It's important for the interviewee to remain comfortable and not like they're being judged. For example:
"How did you happen to come here?" instead of "Why are you here?"
"How do you feel about..?" instead of "Why do you think..?"
What is also a very good replacement as it stays neutral and nonjudgmental.
"What did you do then?"
"What do you like the least?"
Don’t ask leading questions. Don’t put the answer into the respondent’s mouth. People know when they are being lead and will become defensive. Also we need to get the truth, that's the whole reason we are doing this research. Leading examples are:
"Don’t you think ..."
"Don’t you agree ..."
Probing is not the same as leading - it is an unobtrusive way of keeping someone talking and getting elaboration on a specific subject. In order to do this well you must consciously be discreet; sit and wait, don't butt in, make a non-committal response (simply nod your head, etc.), take the last statement and turn it into a question, ask for examples. For instance:
"Was this expected?"
"How so?"
"How did you feel about..?"
"Could you elaborate on..?"
"You talked previously about... can you tell me more about that?"
If something is left out at the end of the interview, mention it and find out why it is left out. It's also a good idea to ask the interviewee if they think anything important was left out. Most of the time they wont say anything but it leave the door open for them to contact you if they remember anything.
After the interview write the notes as soon as you return from the field. At the beginning, it is crucial to collect all kinds of data; don’t be too selective. What is important or trivial is usually not evident until much later. Try not summarise, you can edit later, be explicit. Try to quote verbatim (as said) - if you do need to elaborate, get permission for the source.
Good luck!
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INSPIRATION & EXTRAS
Each week I throw up things I find that relate to what we've been discussing or working on that week. Sometimes it might be things that relate to your major assessment and sometimes just stuff I thought was worth seeing. If you find something you think we should be showing or something we just have to see let us know in class or throw an email over to me at matt@billyblue.com.au and I'll get it up here or on the Bluni inspiration site.
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