1. Design Research
Jon Kolko Director & Founder, Austin Center for Design

2. Design is a process.
Ethnography
Synthesis
Prototyping

3. Design is a process. Ethnography Synthesis Prototyping
Immersion in the cultural context of a wicked problem
Making meaning through abductive sensemaking and reframing
Hypothesis validation through generative, form-giving activities

4. Design is a process. Ethnography Synthesis Prototyping
Research
Transcription
Utterances
Patterns & Anomalies
Interpretation
Insights
Ideas
Stories
Designs
Ethnography
Synthesis
Prototyping
Immersion in the cultural context of a wicked problem
Making meaning through abductive sensemaking and reframing
Hypothesis validation through generative, form-giving activities

5. Research
Transcription
Utterances
Patterns & Anomalies
Interpretation
Insights
Ideas
Stories
Designs
Ethnography
Synthesis
Prototyping
A qualitative description of the human social condition, based on fieldwork and observation.

6. Research
Transcription
Utterances
Patterns & Anomalies
Interpretation
Insights
Ideas
Stories
Designs
Ethnography
Synthesis
Prototyping
A qualitative description of the human social condition, based on fieldwork and observation.

7. Research
Transcription
Utterances
Patterns & Anomalies
Interpretation
Insights
Ideas
Stories
Designs
Ethnography
Synthesis
Prototyping
A qualitative description of the human social condition, based on fieldwork and observation.

8. Research
Transcription
Utterances
Patterns & Anomalies
Interpretation
Insights
Ideas
Stories
Designs
Ethnography
Synthesis
Prototyping
A qualitative description of the human social condition, based on fieldwork and observation.

9. To empathize with people who are not like you are.
Research
Transcription
Utterances
Patterns & Anomalies
Interpretation
Insights
Ideas
Stories
Designs
Ethnography
Synthesis
Prototyping
The goals:
To understand what people do, why they do it, and how they feel about it.
To empathize with people who are not like you are.

10. Ethnography Synthesis Prototyping Immersion Interviews
Research
Transcription
Utterances
Patterns & Anomalies
Interpretation
Insights
Ideas
Stories
Designs
Ethnography
Synthesis
Prototyping
Immersion
Interviews
Contextual Inquiry
Cultural Probes
Participatory Design
Focus Groups
Questionnaires
Longitudinal Study
Passive Observation …

11. The Principles of Contextual Inquiry (CI):
Context, Partnership, Focus.

12. Context is the interrelated conditions in which something exists.
“Being in context” means going to the place where the work is being done and watching it happen in real time.

13. Context is the interrelated conditions in which something exists.
“Being in context” means going to the place where the work is being done and watching it happen in real time.
Work, play, culture, life…

14. Context is the interrelated conditions in which something exists.
“Being in context” means going to the place where the work is being done and watching it happen in real time.
You may need to be creative in order to “get in context” in some environments.

15. Context is the interrelated conditions in which something exists.
“Being in context” means going to the place where the work is being done and watching it happen in real time.
Watching these things..
Physical work space
The work – tasks, sequences
The work intentions
User’s words
Tools used – physical artifacts, placement of objects, commonly used vs. rarely used items
Other people and how they work together
Organizational structure
Cultural influences

16. Partnership is a relationship characterized by close cooperation.
You are there to learn from someone else. Suspend your assumptions and beliefs.

17. Partnership is a relationship characterized by close cooperation.
You are there to learn from someone else. Suspend your assumptions and beliefs.
WAYS TO ESTABLISH PARTNERSHIP/
Let the user lead the conversation
Use open-ended questions, like “What are you doing?” or “Why are you doing that?”
Pay attention to communication that is non-verbal
Downplay recording technology, like cameras – it’s intimidating.
Be casual and friendly.
Form a “master/apprentice” relationship, where you are the apprentice.

18. Focus is the point of view you take while conducting ethnography.
Focus is an active perspective, that helps you find the right people and ask the right questions. It’s an anchor for your research.

19. Focus is the point of view you take while conducting ethnography.
Focus is an active perspective, that helps you find the right people and ask the right questions. It’s an anchor for your research.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR A GOOD FOCUS/
A focus is objective; “We are interested in learning about the food you like to eat” vs “We are interested in learning why you are overweight.”
A focus can be articulated in a succinct statement.
A focus is broad enough to allow for multiple post-research trajectories.

20. Procedurally: Broad Focus Focus Statement Participants Context
Script/Plan

21. Procedurally: Determine what topic you will focus on.
Broad Focus
Focus Statement
Participants
Context
Script/Plan
Determine what topic you will focus on.
Start broad, thinking about large concepts (food, nutrition, banking, etc)
Don’t assume a problem; instead, describe a discipline or domain.
Your initial focus doesn’t matter that much, because wicked problems are so tangled together.
It’s a starting place, not an ending place.
A blank slate can be scary, so we’ll use a blind-selection exercise to jump start the process.

22. Procedurally:
Broad Focus
Focus Statement
Participants
Context
Script/Plan
Craft a simple, one sentence focus statement (“Our focus is…”)
Craft a succinct focus statement, and practice telling someone what your research focus is.
The more specific your focus, the more constrained and detailed your research will be. The more specific your focus, the more likely you are to miss an opportunity.
You’ll shift your focus a number of times.
A blank slate can be scary, so we’ll use a blind-selection exercise to jump start the process.

23. Procedurally: Identify participants.
Broad Focus
Focus Statement
Participants
Context
Script/Plan
Identify participants.
Using your foci as a basis, begin to identify target populations that make sense.
Identify key people (participants) that would best represent those target populations.
You may need to compensate participants for their time.
You will need to negotiate the corporate hierarchy in order to reach the right people.

24. Procedurally: 4. Identify context.
Broad Focus
Focus Statement
Participants
Context
Script/Plan
4. Identify context.
Think about where your ideal participants live, work, play, and spend their time.
You may need to negotiate policies to get into context, particularly in private businesses.

25. Procedurally: 5. Draft a script and plan.
Broad Focus
Focus Statement
Participants
Context
Script/Plan
5. Draft a script and plan.
Craft open-ended questions related to your focus, context, and participants.
Write a research plan that describes what you will do, who you will do it with, where it will be done, and why you will do it.
A good research plan should be detailed enough that someone else can perform the research for you.
Use our document template to get started

26. After you build your research plan, role-play the research experience.
Actually act out what will happen if you follow your script, with one of your group members being the participant. Will it be awkward? What will you say? How will they respond?
Most importantly:
How can you observe real behavior, rather than summary statements?

27. To empathize with people who are not like you are.
Research
Transcription
Utterances
Patterns & Anomalies
Interpretation
Insights
Ideas
Stories
Designs
Ethnography
Synthesis
Prototyping
The goals:
To understand what people do, why they do it, and how they feel about it.
To empathize with people who are not like you are.

28. Jon Kolko
Director, Austin Center for Design
Download our free book, Wicked Problems: Problems Worth Solving, at 28