Design Research Methods

Class #1: Introduction

DO WE REALLY NEED RESEARCH?

Research

Pros Cons

From 2009 Class

Pros Cons

Bombarded and too much

Doesn’t guarantee success

People don’t know what they want

Time consuming

Participants aren’t motivated to give real answers

From 2009 Class

Pros Cons

Bombarded and too much

Doesn’t guarantee success

People don’t know what they want

Time consuming

Participants aren’t motivated to give real answers

From 2009 Class

Pros Cons

Bombarded and too much

Doesn’t guarantee success

People don’t know what they want

Time consuming

Participants aren’t motivated to give real answers

From 2009 Class

Get information

Confidence/Comfort on the right track

Save money in long run

Gives you new ideas/new lens

Pros Cons

Bombarded and too much

Doesn’t guarantee success

People don’t know what they want

Time consuming

Participants aren’t motivated to give real answers

Limits creativity

Don’t get to the root of the problem

Not interesting

“THE REAL VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY LIES

NOT IN SEEKING NEW LANDSCAPES BUT

IN SEEING WITH NEW EYES.”

-MARCEL PROUST

Inspirational Research

Motivate Design ©2009

“…just another monkey can use this. At the end of the day, this is a corporate, highly skilled and specialized at what they do…watering down of their hard skill is not well received. You want to remain technically complex, and that is a big element. The moment the work comes into it looking like Expedia...we lose value in our skill.”

Inspirational Research

Ariely, D., The New Economics in the New World . Harvard Business Review July-August 2009

$.14 $.01

$.13 FREE

…gives help 85% of the time

One bystander…

…give help 31% of the time

Five bystanders…

Latane, B., & Darley, J.M. (1968), Group Inhibition of Bystander Intervention in Emergencies. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 10, 215-21.

Inspirational Research

Applying Research

Inspirational Research

A C B A C B

45% gave money back 14% gave money back

Ariely, D., The New Economics in the New World . Harvard Business Review July-August 2009

Applying Research

“The cable giant Comcast began addressing the customer-revenge problem by using Twitter to respond to problems proactively. The director of digital care, Frank Eliason, discovered that by searching for the word, “Comcast” (or sometimes, “Comcrap”), he could locate unhappy customers who were simply venting to themselves and to their friends, and respond to their problems before they became formal complaints.

Ariely, D., The New Economics in the New World . Harvard Business Review July-August 2009

Assignment 1

Find one example of an interesting research finding.   (It can be from an article, but summarize the finding, not the

article.)

Write a 200 word summary of the specific finding, why it

is inspiring, and how you would apply it, as a designer.

Include the original study with your summary.