DESIGN RESEARCH GUIDE

This material is formatted to provide basic oversight of essential research methods and processes suitable for designers and design projects with special attention to industrial design. Research is a large area of expertise and a profession it its own and should not be underestimated. This material represents a small abbreviated portion of that field.

There are professional researchers, both scientific and otherwise who are well trained at conducting research. These professionals come from both the academic world as well as from the industry. The data and conclusions that are produced by these professionals can be very useful for a designer and is usually a quick way of becoming more knowledgeable in a new area.

There lies a certain risk in taking these readily available findings for the sole basis of your work. Traditional research material tends to cover mainstream topics and deals with known facts that are easily quantifiable. This may inhibit new and innovative solutions.

A 'design mind' does research differently from traditional researchers and asks more "what if…" questions. Design work also deals with complexity in such a way that designers may develop sensitivity to patterns in complex data and may therefore draw new conclusions by immersing themselves in the research.

Personal insight serves as basis for more relevant design outcomes since a personal experience of the subject is a richer experience. There is always the risk of misinterpretation when dealing with secondary data and the original purpose of the research project that produced the data may vary from your own.

This type of research can be useful in many situations but this material focuses on issues that tend to arise in industrial design projects. Industrial design has many definitions and here is one of them by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design:

"Design is a creative activity whose aim is to establish the multi-faceted qualities of objects, processes, services and their systems in whole life-cycles. Therefore, design is the central factor of innovative humanization of technologies and the crucial factor of cultural and economic exchange"

The research methods listed here is not limited to the design of physical objects and is useful for designing systems, services or other solutions in a design project.

Warning: The methods may appear simpler then they actually are, a critical mind set and common sense are advised as usuall when it comes to any real world problem.

Encouragement: Research doesn't have to be very difficult as it may appear. Designers tend to be inquisitive in nature and pretty good at this stuff.