Design Research Methods & Practice
Faculty
Miki Aso
Co-Founder, CSO at Friends
Course length
Duration
Total hours
Credits
Language
Course type
Fee for single course
Fee for degree students
Skills you’ll learn
Overview
The shift from traditional design to that of designing interconnected experiences asks designers to be able to think critically across mediums and physical locations. In this class students will gain practical experience in qualitative and quantitative research methods to uncover people’s emotions, behaviors, and aspirations to inform design decisions that can be applied to all mediums. Students will explore ethnographic approaches, usability and testing, field immersions, secondary and analogous research, expert consultation, and most importantly how to make sense of data to get to actionable insights that inform design.
Learning highlights
- Give students an understanding of the value and application of design research.
- Provide an overview of a people centered design process.
- Provide students with a spectrum of research methods and tools through case studies, project work, and in-field practice.
- Guide students to develop their own research approach given a specific brief.
- Learn how to synthesise research into actionable insights that can be communicated with ease.
- Apply insights to a lo-fi design output—be it physical, digital, service, or a system.
Course outline
15 classes
Intro to Design Research
Who are you? Who am I?
What does research mean to you?
What is research? Why does it matter?
Goals for the course.
Overview of syllabus.
Share Friends Projects & External Case Studies
Share Friends Projects & External Case Studies
Assign Design Brief
Introduce briefs from friends or external partners. Brief may address innovation, strategy, and/or design.
Form teams for duration of course.
Review approach to brief.
Design Research Methods Part 1
Desk and secondary research.
Competitive analysis.
Design Research Methods Part 2
Field research: observations, interviews, shadowing.
Tools and methods of documentation.
Guest: Leslie Ruckman.
Design Research Methods Part 3
Analogous research: value, methods, examples.
Guest: Alice Ro.
Design Research Methods Part 4
Cultural inquiry: diaries, apps, photos, etc.
Online and digital research methods.
Synthesis
Make meaning out of data.
Synthesis
Distill data into insights.
Insights
Articulate insights into actionable formats.
Ideation Workshop
Use insights to come up with concepts.
Prototyping Workshop
Give concepts form, both lo-fi and digital formats.
Testing
Test prototypes through usability testing, feedback, and co-design methods.
Final Presentation Review
Final Presentation Review.
Final Presentations
Final Presentations.
Prerequisites
No previous experience is necessary but openness to speaking with strangers, tolerance for ambiguity, and bravery to make ideas vulnerable will make this class more fun!
Methodology
This is a three-week class with lectures, real-world learning, student presentations, class and individual critiques, and team activities. We’ll have guest speakers to share experience and deep dive on specific methodologies. Students will practice tools and methods in the field to gain real world experience. Students will create artefacts to test their ability to make and implement methods of cultural inquiry. Students are expected to teach back methods they learn and demonstrate how they have applied it in their own design practice. Working in teams, students will collaborate with diverse perspectives needed to articulate strong insights and designs.
Grading
Miki Aso is co-founder and CSO of Friends, a collaborative design and innovation company based in Brooklyn, New York. As CSO, she leads the strategy and design research practice for Friends.
Miki works alongside teams and leaders to transform the relationship between companies and people. She is constantly in search of new ways to support partners as they do things they’ve never done before and believes that design is as much facilitation as it is vision.
See full profileApply for this course
Design Research Methods & Practice
by Miki Aso
Total hours
45 Hours
Dates
Apr 09 - Apr 27, 2018
Fee for single course
€1500
Fee for degree students
€750
How to secure your spot
Complete the form below to kickstart your application
Schedule your Harbour.Space interview
If successful, get ready to join us on campus
FAQ
Will I receive a certificate after completion?
Yes. Upon completion of the course, you will receive a certificate signed by the director of the program your course belonged to.
Do I need a visa?
This depends on your case. Please check with the Spanish or Thai consulate in your country of residence about visa requirements. We will do our part to provide you with the necessary documents, such as the Certificate of Enrollment.
Can I get a discount?
Yes. The easiest way to enroll in a course at a discounted price is to register for multiple courses. Registering for multiple courses will reduce the cost per individual course. Please ask the Admissions Office for more information about the other kinds of discounts we offer and what you can do to receive one.