DECO1100/7110 RESEARCH FOR DESIGN (20%) Due 24 March 14:00, 2025. Submit your research portfolio through Blackboard. This will be a Turnitin assignment (plagiarism detection). Purpose Primary research
DECO1100/7110
RESEARCH FOR DESIGN (20%)
Due 24 March 14:00, 2025.
Submit your research portfolio through Blackboard. This will be a Turnitin assignment
(plagiarism detection).
Purpose
Primary research (ie original research you conduct yourself) is an essential skill for human-
centred design. Your current life experiences, whatever they are, enable you to imagine what
people you haven't met are like. But people will always surprise you. In this project you will do
user research, you will study a context and the people within the context (users) with the aim of
trying to identify problems or design opportunities where you can improve the existing system.
This project requires you to go out and observe people, places, and technologies, you will need to
interview people, study how (and when) people interact and use technology, collect data, analyze it
in order to develop interesting design insights, and to identify design opportunities.
eg outside a food
court, a busy corridor, a market square, green spaces, a waiting area, a library, a museum or any
open space you prefer.
Deliverables
You will conduct your own research and collate a research portfolio. The research will be
delivered in the form of a PDF (word processed) report (minimum of 6 A4 pages and a maximum
of 10 A4 pages, excluding references and appendix).
Following sections should be included:
1. Introduction. A short introduction to the research you have conducted. Describe the
context you have chosen and what kind of people are normally active in your chosen
context. Introduce what methods you have used for the user study, your process for
analyzing your data, a short summary of the insights you have found, and what problems
or design opportunities you have identified from your research. Your project needs to include interviews
, observations and a probe. 2. Analysis
. of data you have collected. For each excerpt, go beyond/behind the surface features of the data. For example, if analyzing an interview, do not just tell us what they say, but identify what values are implied by what they say or how they say it; consider how their answers convey something of their own identity or sense of self; how what they talk about (and
avoid talking about) suggests latent needs.
3. Themes and outliers. In this section you need to present your data holistically and
attempts to organize and makes sense of it together.
Include at least one of below:
-excerpts from your data (interviews or observations) that you have organized into
themes;
-affinity diagrams of your other data (eg from your observations, notes or returned
probes)
-annotated site maps that identify common or uncommon happenings.
Present the data you have collected by describing at least one group of '
outliers'. Explain how this group is 'outliers' in comparison to the themes or commonalities
you have found. 4. Insights
and implications for design. the kinds of experiences the users in the context will have. If you can, try to identify design principles. 5. Conclusion. Write a paragraph that concludes the research report, reminds readers of its purpose and presents its contribution. 6. Appendix. Include an appendix with your raw data to show evidence of your work. Each student must attach at least 5 minutes of interview that is fully transcribed in this section. and used in preparation of this submission. If you used probe methods such as photo diaries or group chat prompts, you may include those here too. Criteria In evaluating your research portfolio, there are five pass/fail criteria. • TRANSCRIPTION Pass/Fail: Has the student transcribed at least five minutes of one interview they have conducted with a participant? • AUDIO RECORDING Pass/Fail: Has the student submitted audio recordings of 2 interviews? • OBSERVATION Pass/Fail: Has the student provided evidence of having conducted an observation of people's use for the specific choice of site at a specific time of day? • PROBE Pass/Fail: Has the student provided evidence of having conducted a probe to complement the interview and observation data
• DESIGN OPPORTUNITIES/PROBLEMS Pass/Fail: Has the student proposed at least two
design opportunities or problems that they have identified in response to the research
they have conducted?
The submission will be assessed using the following questions as guides (see more detail in
marking rubric):
• Strategic choices: to what degree has the student made appropriate choices with respect to selecting
a group of participants and identifying relevant locations to observe
?
student applied the research methods? How well does their
interview transcript show their facility with open-ended and semi-structured
interviewing as a method for design research? How detailed are their observations? What
other method/s have they chosen, and what skills have they shown in their execution?
• Analysis: how well has the student been able to go beyond the content of the data to identify values , themes , insights
and design implications? research? • Communication: how clearly does the report communicate the student's understanding of the work they have done and its purpose? How appropriate is its style and structure? Is it concise? Places to start with relevant methods: Gaffney, G. (nd). Cultural probes | Information & Design. Retrieved February 26, 2019, from https://infodesign.com.au/usabilityresources/culturalprobes.html Labaree, RV (nd). Research Guides: Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper: Writing Field Notes [Research Guide]. Retrieved February 26, 2019, from //libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/fieldnotes McNiff, K. (nd). Are you really listening? Tips for co