Design Research Reflection
My Method — Stakeholder Mapping
Stakeholder mapping is the process of aligning identified stakeholders on a two dimensional axis, the x-axis representing of interest and the y- axis representing in influence. This reflective process reveals who the audience is, how they relate to the subject, and where attention and resources should be directed according to the desired outcomes of a given initiative. Since at its core, the role of the designers to communicate with an audience, stakeholder mapping it can be very useful for designers in understanding how to better communicate no matter the medium.
Remote Moderated Research — Caitlyn Baensch
Remote moderated research is, like stakeholder mapping, a very flexible method of research. It is a form of testing working with real users, analyzing their real habits of interacting with the product, software, or project, that is conducted via remote platforms such as Zoom. This method pairs well with Stakeholder Mapping since it also helps during the developmental process — specifically, these methods both provide different insights as to how external members of a project relate to and engage with that project.
Parallel Prototyping — Catherine Wang
Parallel prototyping is a form of idea generation that is used to develop a wide breath of ideas in the early stages of a process. Essentially, many different people brainstorm for a single solution and as a result there are many perspectives and varying concerns are revealed in the process. Stakeholder mapping and parallel prototyping both help a collective group of people better understand collectively what they are doing and working towards. These two methods Would pair well together since they both provide a different insights during the early stages of a process.
Design Fiction — Chelsea Liu
Although not necessarily agreed-upon as a research method, design fiction is a an interesting method for idea generation. Fictitious and imaginative solutions for future problems are theorized, which provides insight into current cultural behavior and how current problems and current solutions may interact with future problems and solutions. This method contrast pretty starkly from stakeholder mapping, as it is a very projective process as opposed to one reflective of a current situation. Perhaps a similarity that can be identified between these two methods could be that they are both tools to understand the audience and explore existing dynamics and tensions among this audience.
Behavior Mapping — Daniel Zhu
Behavior mapping is another form of mapping in research that requires observation of users inclined behavior. By paying careful attention to how a person navigates a product or service, designers can adjust existing designs, whether that means designing to change the existing behavior, or optimizing the design to support the behavior identified. Just as the names of the methods are similar, behavior and research mapping go well together as they are both analytical tools to understand the existing relationships of the audience. It may even be helpful to first identify stakeholders via a stakeholder map and them observe those stakeholders in a behavior mapping study.
