Number5 and Design: Part One
Often numbers and design are seen as oil and water: they don’t mix. Design is human-centric and traditionally relies on rich qualitative research to drive new ideas. Numbers supposedly threaten to hamper creativity by placing limits on the imagination of the designer. We’ve found that isn’t really the case, since quantitative techniques generate a whole new class of insights that standard design research methods may not uncover.
By Nikolas Black, Diego Jimenez, Miguel Bello, and Raphael Sousa, our designers in Medellín
This article is an introduction to a three-part series. In part one, we’ll share how designers and data scientists can have a mutually beneficial relationship. Part two and part three will dive into specific methods and how designers can use data to tackle twenty-first century challenges.
Customer First
In our pursuit of user-friendly, user-centric, human-centered experiences, we can lose sight of something important: the client. Developing new, interesting products that solve the user needs is ultimately useless if it’s not commercially viable. Numerical data can help us generalize qualitative findings to larger populations. Here are two examples of questions that statistics can answer:
How many users? Strategic designers already construct extensive user profiles that are centered around core values, preferences, and beliefs. But sometimes that simply isn’t enough. Businesses need to know how large their market is and where to target their services. Focusing on the number of users in each category can also create new opportunities for designers. Designing with a clear, precise target in mind leads to better solutions and new ideas.
How much do consumers really care about certain product features? Qualitative research allows us to isolate that attribute x, y, and z are important components for a design. However, x costs $5, y costs $10, and z costs $20. Which component is most important? Do users prefer z over both x and y, when z costs more than both? These questions are essential when the client is making decisions on how to invest. A/B testing also becomes much more agile through quantitative techniques.
Speaking the Same Language
Design and insights from qualitative research are both important, but communicating their value to business-oriented executives can be difficult. Translating impact from words to KPIs should be an integral component of any strategic design project, since most organizations are data-driven. We should work with the client, integrating with their systems wherever we can, to provide a more complete and holistic service.
Designer, meet data scientist
On the other hand, designers of all types can add significant value to a quantitative research process. Design research asks the right questions to find out what really matters to users. These skills are transferrable to any type of research. Designers are inclined to explore unexpected and creative ways to measure the previously immeasurable. We follow this approach whenever possible.
Designers can also help organizations interpret their findings. By listening to users and stakeholders, we can find out why certain things matter, and keep the client’s focus on them. For example, designers can add value by finding creative ways to transform their user profiles into quantifiable metrics. A key part of any design research is profiling potential users with a series of characteristics. These attributes may not be easy to measure, so we need other variables that are simpler to estimate but represent the same trait. For instance, contemporary tastes could be correlated with age, or health with exercise. With a method to categorize users, we can estimate market size, identify the most valuable customers, and tailor individual experiences. Each new insight will contribute to the success of projects and, ultimately, the client.
We’ve established that strategic design and data analysis each have their own strengths, so how do we integrate quantitative methods into our projects? Join us for part two, as we dive into mixed methods research!
