[IxDA Discuss] Design research

[Jeff Howard]

I believe deeply in the value of intuition in design but I think your
argument is too broad Dan.

Projects don't require research? If you were only discounting the
value of exploratory user research I might be able to get on board,
but your argument seems to dismiss the value of research across the
board. Exploratory research, generative research, evaluative
research. Such a sweeping declaration even precludes simple secondary
research like looking at competitive products.

Not every project requires full blown ethnographic research, but I
think some outside perspective is always valuable. Could I get by
without it? Probably. Then again, it's easy to assume you know a
domain better than you really do. User research really shines when it
uncovers the unknown unknowns--what Boorstin called a Negative
Discovery. Even when research only confirms what you already know, it
puts you on more even footing with the client--to Dave Cronin's
point, to defend design rationale.

But back to my main point. Design research is broader than
exploratory user research. Even if you're just fixing a usability
issue, I believe that it's helpful to conduct some informal
evaluative research on your design solution, even if it's just in
the form of cubicle usability testing.