Design Research Theory Process

Being enrolled in Design Research Theory and Process at Maryville this last semester has brought to light a lot of things. The final stretch of this semester was over a project on a topic of our choosing from a selection from our class textbook. The topic I chose for this was “Human Decision Making is Rarely Rational.”

This theory is very human as is. We tend to make mistakes due to being human; we like to overthink and sometimes “underthink”. The chapter describes how several outlets take out the risk of human behavior regarding decision-making. One of the examples that are used in the textbook is tax programs. These analyze data from people and allow risk to be minimized for optimal decision-making. This is also talked about in how it is implemented within the design.

I then had to make a final design prototype that took the topic and illustrated it. I made a pixel-art illustration of people in a casino setting. These people are gambling at a roulette table and are about to risk it big. This was a playful and fun way to illustrate the topic.

I then proceeded with the next part of the process. I had to conduct interviews using a script to ask questions about the design prototype to my peers.

Overall, the process was fun, and I think it was different from what I used to in design. All aspects of the design were used. I had to design, ask questions, and be open to new ideas.