week 1

WEEK 1 Overview

• Focus on inspiration and design research.

Introduction to Research

• Importance of understanding the real problems in design (Don Norman).

• Research is fundamental for generating ideas (Tim Brown & David Kelley).

Design Research Objectives

• Success in startups involves learning to solve customer problems (Eric Ries).

• Key questions to explore:

  • Target audience demographics.

  • Audience preferences and purchasing behaviors.

  • Competitor analysis.

  • Optimal sales and marketing channels.

Getting Started

• Identify the company, market challenges, stakeholders, and learnings needed.

• Consider existing data and methods for finding answers.

Where to Look for Inspiration

• Engage with various user groups including extremes and outliers.

• Emphasize empathy: observe users in their natural environments to understand their needs and contexts.

Understanding Users

• Focus on understanding values, needs, and aspirations.

• Conduct interviews with a beginner’s mindset:

  • Be present and avoid judgment.

  • Ask open-ended questions to explore emotions.

Inspiration Sources

• Experts and secondary collections can provide valuable insights.

Research Wall Techniques

• Collect and visually arrange research findings to identify patterns.

• Use sticky notes for key insights and create clusters of related information.

Ideation Preparation

• Develop trigger questions from insights for actionable ideas ("How might we...?").

• Convert research insights into design challenges.

• Create personas based on research to represent user segments.

Journey Mapping

• Visualize user experiences over time to identify gaps and solutions.

• Base maps on qualitative and quantitative research.

Gallery Walk

• Present findings and gather feedback from peers to enhance understanding and explore new ideas.