Design Research 101

(2020)
Creative Template
J A N 2 0 1 7
DESIGN
RESEARCH
101

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W h y d e s i g n r e s e a r c h ?
A discussion why research is so important and
what is it exactly we’re after
D i f f e r e n t d e s i g n r e s e a r c h M e t h o d s
A brief look at three methods to get you started
I s i t t h e s a m e a s M a r k e t R e s e a r c h ?
If not the same, how are design research and
market research different?
S o w h e n d o w e d o d e s i g n r e s e a r c h ?
Do we prototype before we research? After? Isn’t
research really just optional?
Agenda

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Why design research?
—
What is design research
anyway?
The term design research first
appeared at a conference held at
Imperial London College in 1962 and
was constituted as primarily
research into the process of design,
developing from work in design
methods.

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That was the 1960s, What
about today?
The concept has been expanded to
include research embedded within
the process of design, including
work concerned with the context of
designing.
Today, design research has become
foundational to creating products,
services, and systems that have the
needs of humans at its center.

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What Does it all mean?
Okay, sure. Let’s get a little help
defining design research. It’s a great
reason to bring in a pull quote.

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[Design research
is] the work that
uncovers and
articulates the
needs of
individuals and/
or groups in
order to inform
the design of
products and
services in a
structured
manner.
 
— Nick Remis,  
Adaptive Path
“
”

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—
Got it, design research is
important - what is it
exactly we’re after?
We can boil it down to three things:
• To synthesize findings into
patterns and insights, testing
against existing knowledge
• To construct hypotheses and
reach conclusions using patterns
and insights
• To create possible futures

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So when do we do design research?
—
That’s all well and good
about design research,
but can we build
something first?
Of course, we want to make
something and test it. When a
design works beautifully, it’s nothing
short of glorious.

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—
Even when the answer is
wrong, it feels so much
better than ambiguity
If you’re concerned with
demonstrating value by making fast,
visible progress, conducting user
interviews feels useless and a waste
of time. A prototype can test an idea
that is already good, but not tell you
whether you’re solving the right
problem.

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According to Bill Buxton, the pioneer computer
scientist and designer, there’s a difference
between ‘getting the design right and getting the
right design.’
I think of it this way: if we only test bottle
openers, we may never realize customers prefer
screw-top bottles. That’s what Buxton means by
getting the right design. 
— Victor lomabardi, 
Why We Fail
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Is it the same as market research?
—
What is Market Research?
Generally, market research identifies
optimal consumer leverage points
and then analyzes this along with
other gathered data — industry
shifts, changing needs and
preferences — to better understand
what its existing or potential
customers need and/or want. Its
notion of success is not absolute,
though the metrics considered are
often financial.

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—
so, Design research is
different from market
research
Design research is based on the idea
that the needs of humans are the
optimal market and consumer
leverage points: human needs. Thus,
uncovering and satisfying those
needs is the surest way to achieve
success.

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—
Can we just do one and not
the other?
Not really.
Both kinds of research — market
and design — are necessary in
developing effective consumer
products and user solutions.
Together, they can minimize
business risks and provide a clear
framework to create successful
products and services.

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Different design research methods
—
Three examples of design
research
There are a ton of methods by which you
can do design research. We’ll go over just
three general groupings to save time.

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Interviews
Lots of different terms for this — user
interviews, subject matter expert
interviews (or just expert interviews),
group interviews, customer/user
intercepts — but it boils down to talking
to people, whether it’s people who do use
(or should be using) your product or
people who really know your product. The
focus here is to gain a deeper
understanding of your user and their why.

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Observation
This method is more passive than
interviewing but can be super informative,
depending on what you’re looking for.
Observations (sometimes also called field
studies) can be a great way to get beyond
what a user can or will tell you they need,
identifying the areas where they struggle,
and may not even think about because
they’ve already adapted to softening the
pain point.

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Testing
There are two major kinds of testing —
user/usability testing and A/B testing. The
first involves giving a user task(s) as it
relates to a mockup, prototype, or boxes/
arrows and observing them completing
those task(s). A/B testing is another
method where a user is shown two
options and pros/cons are broken down.
No matter what the method, testing is
about testing the user, it’s about testing
the designs.

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—
Other ways to learn
Among a plethora of sources, here are
three more places to dive deeper into the
field of design research:
• Nielsen Norman Group - http://
www.nngroup.com/topic/research-
methods/
• UX Collective - http://uxdesign.cc/
tagged/design-research
• IDEO, a day in the life of a design
researcher - http://www.ideo.com/blog/a-
day-in-the-life-of-a-design-researcher

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Some people think that usability is very costly and
complex and that user tests should be reserved
for the rare web design project with a huge
budget and a lavish time schedule. Not true.
Elaborate usability tests are a waste of resources.
The best results come from… three studies with
five users each [understanding you’ll need to test
highly distinct groups of users separately]. 
— Jakob Nielsen, 
Nielsen Norman Group
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”

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(2020)
Creative Template
Thanks for listening
Any questions? Contact
Skipper Chong Warson
[email protected]

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Design Research 101

Design Research 101

Skipper Chong Warson

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