PLANNING DESIGN RESEARCH

Design briefs can be very ambiguous due to the design process. Designers are asked to “Embrace ambiguity” as part of the process. It is considered one of the main design mindsets at ideo.com

This ambiguous process made it harder to plan our studio projects effectively. Especially as beginners, we weren't able to fully foresee what could possibly come next. However, as we went from a project to another, we were able to adapt to a framework and think more holistically before the start of the project.

What’s does a design research plan include?

1. Research Questions — framing the research questions and goals and listing the kind of information we are looking for from the beginning helped us dive in the right direction.
2. Research Methods — by reflecting on the research questions, we would identify the methods we want to use in our research. We would also identify the goal for each method.
3. Research Participants — thinking about the different profiles of participants we need to get the information and how many of them we would like to engage. It is important to also think about how we will recruit these participants and if there are challenges to access participants.
4. Research Context — understanding the context where we will conduct the research. This could relate to the location, environment, cultural background, or technical expertise related to this project.