Design research methods and perspectives rapidshare

Here are some places where you could gather secondary research:. Generative research, also known as exploratory research, focuses on a deeper understanding of user needs and desires. Examples of generative research include interviews, user groups, surveys, and contextual inquiries. Your goal is to collect feedback to help refine and improve the design experience.

One of the most popular ways to conduct evaluative research is to have people use your product or service as they think out loud again, a subset of primary research.

A perfect example of this research method is usability studies. And, for whichever type of evaluative research you choose, there are two types: summative and formative. Summative emphasizes the outcome more than the process looking at whether the desired effect is achieved and formative is used to strengthen idea being tested monitoring the success of a process.

How do you decide which research method to use? These new questions will help you decide what you need to learn next. When in doubt, always follow the questions. Sign Up Free. Emily has written for some of the top tech companies, covering everything from creative copywriting to UX design. Ask Questions: Brainstorm questions to ask the client so you fully understand what is expected. You should gather this information before you start writing the proposal and delegate time writing them to best-qualified prospects.

Here is a sample of good, strategic questions to ask on a questionnaire. The designer Jacob Cass provides a questionnaire for potential clients to fill out prior to starting the project. Such questions allow the designer to assess the project details in-depth to expedite the design process.

Graham Smith is another designer who provides a logo design questionnaire to potential clients to help formulate a brief prior to the project. The questionnaire, while lengthy, allows the designer to form a solid base from which to build the logo. Also take the time to read about the company on their website to help you understand their mission and goals.

Image credit: zeldman. Perhaps the most important aspect of the design process is understanding and acknowledging the target audience. After all, this is what determines the success or failure of a website.

Designing the user experience for a specific audience — whether it be seniors, children, or color-blind users, should be taken into consideration in creating a product that builds trust and loyalty, which can translate into more sales. Image credit: vroomvroommm. The behavior of different individuals can give you insight into problems they may be facing and your website can help resolve that. This is important these days as customers expect products, services, and information that are timely and catered to their specific needs and desires.

It depends on what subjects and who you want to study. Let's say you are interested in studying what makes people happy, or why some students are more conscious about recycling on campus. To answer these questions, you need to make a decision about how to collect your data.

Most frequently used methods include:. One particular method could be better suited to your research goal than others, because the data you collect from different methods will be different in quality and quantity. For instance, surveys are usually designed to produce relatively short answers, rather than the extensive responses expected in qualitative interviews.

At its best, a lively research methodology can reinvigorate the passion that so often fades after designers join the profession.

The goal of the book is to introduce designers to the many research tools that can be used to inform design as well as to ideas about how and when to deploy them effectively. Each has something to say about how designers make themselves better at what they do through research, and illustrates it with real world examples—case studies, anecdotes, and images. Topics of this multi-voice conversation include qualitative and quantitative methods, performance ethnography and design improvisation, trend research, cultural diversity, formal and structural research practice, tactical discussions of design research process, and case studies drawn from areas as unique as computer games, museum information systems, and movies.

Interspersed throughout the book are one-page "demos," snapshots of the design research experience. Design Research charts the paths from research methods to research findings to design principles to design results and demonstrates the transformation of theory into a richly satisfying and more reliably successful practice.