[IxDA Discuss] Design research

[Jeff Axup]

I think it bears mentioning that Dan is writing from a consulting
perspective. Many of us have been consultants before and we know the
challenges of selling clients on the idea of research before you can
actually get started building what they want built. Pragmatically speaking,
yes, if you don't have time/money/resources for research, and you do
actually want to build something instead of nothing, then drop the research.

But that said, out of the 8 steps mentioned in the article, at least one of
them is always true. I am a heavy MP3 player user. I have good design
intuition about MP3 player design. But if someone asked me to design one, I
would still do research. That's because there's always users of a different
age range, salary range, culture-preferences and tech-savyness than myself.
You are never all of your users. Bottom-line: to remove research is to
increase product risk. However, over-research could reduce your probability
of shipping a product. ;) So finding the right balance of "enough" research
is the key I think.

Also, another point worth considering: creativity doesn't happen in
isolation. It typically happens while looking at other similar products and
watching people use prototypes or other activities. Thus, we probably end up
with more formulaic and status quo designs by not doing research.

Best Regards,
Jeff
____________________________________________________________________________
Jeff Axup, Ph.D.
Principal Consultant, Mobile Community Design Consulting, San Diego

Research:    Mobile Group Research Methods, Social Networks, Group Usability
E-mail:        axup <at> userdesign.com
Blog:           http://mobilecommunitydesign.com
Moblog:       http://memeaddict.blogspot.com
Academic:   http://www.infenv.itee.uq.edu.au
____________________________________________________________________________

On 5/9/07, Jeffrey D. Gimzek <listserv at jdgimzek.com> wrote:
>
>
> On May 9, 2007, at 10:53 AM, Jeff Howard wrote:
>
> > 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.
>
>
> I'd have to concur with Jeff here, especially about the "Negative
> Discovery" aspect.
>
> It is very hard to know what you don't know you don't know (as even
> Don Rumsfield admits).
>
> I have rarely been through a research phase that didnt reveal to me
> and my team some sort of off the chart idea or aspect that we had
> completely overlooked.
>
> That being said, however, I do see Dan's point, and live through it
> quite often.
>
> In smaller freelance projects, often there is NO research budget, and
> so I fly by the seat of my [very experienced] pants.
>
> Usually this means that I rely on my own user oriented preferences -
> as I am, of course, a long term digital media user.
>
> to quickly draw my own conclusion:
>
> Research may not always be required or necessary, but it is never
> useless, and always helps improve the end product in some way.
>
> jd
>
>
>
>
>
> --
>
> Jeffrey D. Gimzek
> Digital Experience Creative
>
> www.jdgimzek.com
> thundercougarfalconbird.blogspot.com
>
>
>
>
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