DECO1100/7110

RESEARCH FOR DESIGN (20%)

Due: 24 March 2025, 14:00
Submission: Submit your research portfolio through Blackboard.
This will be a Turnitin assignment (plagiarism detection).

Purpose

Primary research (i.e., 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: studying 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:

• Observe people, places, and technologies

• Interview people

• Study how (and when) people interact and use technology

• Collect and analyse data

• Develop interesting design insights

• Identify design opportunities

Example contexts: 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.

Format: PDF (word-processed) report
Length: Minimum 6 A4 pages, maximum 10 A4 pages (excluding references and appendix).

Required Sections

1. Introduction

   • A short introduction to the research conducted

   • Describe the chosen context and typical people active there

   • Methods used for the user study

   • Process for analysing your data

   • Short summary of insights found

   • Problems or design opportunities identified

   • Project must include interviews, observations, and a probe

2. Analysis

   • Analyse data collected

   • Go beyond surface features (e.g., if analysing interviews, interpret implied values, identity, or latent needs—not just what was said).

3. Themes and Outliers
   Present your data holistically. Organize and make sense of it together. Include at least one of the following:

   • Excerpts from your data (interviews or observations) organised into themes

   • Affinity diagrams of observations, notes, or returned probes

   • Annotated site maps identifying common/uncommon happenings

   Also describe at least one group of outliers, explaining how they differ from the themes or commonalities found.

4. Insights and Implications for Design

   • Describe kinds of experiences users in the context will have

   • Identify design principles, if possible

5. Conclusion

   • A final paragraph concluding the research report

   • Restate the purpose and contribution of the research

6. Appendix

   • Include raw data to show evidence of work

   • Each student must attach at least 5 minutes of fully transcribed interview

   • Include probe methods if used (e.g., photo diaries, group chat prompts)

Criteria

In evaluating your research portfolio, five pass/fail criteria apply:

• TRANSCRIPTION (Pass/Fail): Has the student transcribed at least five minutes of one interview?

• AUDIO RECORDING (Pass/Fail): Has the student submitted audio recordings of 2 interviews?

• OBSERVATION (Pass/Fail): Evidence of observation of people’s use of the chosen site at a specific time of day?

• PROBE (Pass/Fail): Evidence of probe conducted to complement interview and observation data?

• DESIGN OPPORTUNITIES/PROBLEMS (Pass/Fail): At least two identified design opportunities or problems?

Assessment Guide

The submission will be assessed using the following guiding questions (see rubric for details):

• Strategic Choices

  • Appropriateness of participant group and chosen location(s)

  • Quality of research methods used

  • Interview transcript quality (open-ended, semi-structured methods)

  • Detail of observations

  • Additional methods applied and execution quality

• Analysis

  • Depth of analysis beyond data content

  • Identification of values, themes, insights, and design implications

• Communication

  • Clarity in communicating understanding and purpose

  • Appropriateness of style and structure

  • Conciseness

Suggested Resources

• Gaffney, G. (n.d.). Cultural probes | Information & Design. Retrieved February 26, 2019, from https://infodesign.com.au/usabilityresources/culturalprobes.html

• Labaree, R. V. (n.d.). Research Guides: Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper: Writing Field Notes [Research Guide]. Retrieved February 26, 2019, from https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/fieldnotes

• McNiff, K. (n.d.). Are you really listening? Tips for co…