The New Designer: Design Research (part 4 of 8)
Author of this post: Dave Holston | About Blog Authors »Note: This is part 4 in an 8 part series by design instructor and NoD author Dave Holston. To view Dave’s previous entries please click here.
The proverbial “seat at the table” has always been a coveted spot for designers. The price of an invitation is the ability to show accountability in design decision-making and a return on design investment. Design research is the foundation of these two areas. Without it, design decisions cannot be made, and success cannot be measured. However for most designers, research takes a back seat to the familiar and comfortable creative side of the design process.
The goal of a designer’s work is to influence a target audience’s thinking, and ultimately their behavior. We know that the craft of design has great power in determining the success or failure of these outcomes. Consider how the nuances of typography can change peoples understanding of words, or how a powerful image can touch people in meaningful ways. Yet there is little rigor for design decision-making. Most decisions are made on the designer/client level, often based on intuition, past experiences and assumptions.
While its true that intuition often gives birth to great ideas, and experience is a valuable learning tool, to meet the goal of influencing audience behavior and adding value designers need to dig deeper. Design research is critical to the design process, ultimately shaping and informing the direction of the project. As HCI pioneer, educator and design entrepreneur Brenda Laurel has stated, “Good design research functions as a springboard for the designer’s creativity and values.”
Why research?
So why invest time in research, when you could be diving into your Adobe Suite? Design research provides several benefits to designers. Most importantly it provides the designer with meaningful, actionable information to make design decisions. Research makes designers less vulnerable to subjectivity by clients, and provides the basis for measurement of design success. This accountability repositions designers from stylists to strategists.
From a client perspective, research lets the client know that the designer, as a professional who they have entrusted, has done due diligence in making sure their design solutions don’t just look good, but also perform well.
Who conducts research?
Most research comes from a marketing perspective and does not provide designers the insights that they need to make meaningful design decisions. Joe Duffy, CEO of Minneapolis design firm Duffy & Partners considers design research an essential part of the designer’s process, stating on their Web site, “I think, many times, particularly with advertising agencies, all of the front end work, which I think is the most critical, is done by people outside of the creative department, which is ridiculous.” Duffy goes on to say, “All of our people are involved in the beginning. They are not being handed something and begin told this is the direction, now you go and run with it. They are actually part of creating it. And it makes the design more specific to what the audience is asking for.” Research allows the designer to engage directly with audiences and clients, allowing opportunities for direct questioning, ensuring that the information collected is meaningful and actionable.
Try this at home
There are two areas designers need to consider when conducting research – the client’s business and the target audience. Business research helps the designer understand the client’s goals, the various constraints that they work under, their strengths, points of differentiation, and competitive positioning. Audience research provides an understanding of need, meaning and context in which the client’s product or service exists. Analysis of this information provides the foundation for smart design decision-making.
In the next article we’ll look at tools designers can use to understanding the client’s business.
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