ID408
Design Research Methods & Practice
Faculty
Alice Ro
Design Strategist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Course length
Duration
Total hours
Credits
Language
Course type
Fee for single course
Fee for degree students
Skills you’ll learn
Overview
This course will teach students practical experience in using qualitative research methods and ethnographic approaches that can be applied across mediums, to understand at a deeper level the emotions, motivations, and behaviors of the people who use our designs.
Learning highlights
- Give students an understanding of the value and application of design research
- Provide an overview of a human-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 clear learnings and actionable insights that can be communicated with ease
Course outline
15 classes
Introductions
What is Design Research? Goals for the course. Overview of syllabus. Communications and expectations.
Homework: Research and prepare short presentation on a classmate.
Case Studies & Design Brief
Review research examples. Introduce design brief. Form teams. Frame the design challenge.
Homework: Meet with your team and do Ways of Working activity. Complete framing.
Design Research Planning & Methods
Looking In and Looking Out: 2 views on your challenge. Secondary research. Remote and in-person approaches to: observations, interviews, shadowing, cultural probes, and recruiting.
Homework: Create research plan outline.
Design Research Methods
Refine research plan in class. Tools and methods for documentation and debriefing. Create recruiting plan & begin recruiting.
Homework: Create interview guide.
Design Research Methods
Analogous research. In class interview practice. Week in review.
Homework: Recruit participants, create prompt materials, begin field research.
Field Research
Debrief. Course correct approach, sharpen focus of interview guides and other methods. Continue practicing research methods.
Homework: Continue field research.
Field Research
Debrief. Course correct approach, sharpen focus of interview guides and other methods. Continue practicing research methods.
Homework: Continue field research.
Field Research
Debrief. Course correct approach, sharpen focus of interview guides and other methods. Continue practicing research methods.
Homework: Complete research and documentation of research.
Synthesis
Methods and techniques to make meaning out of data, including affinity mapping. Case studies and examples of insights.
Homework: Level setting with your team.
Synthesis
Work with teams to documents learnings and articulate insights. Initial affinity mapping. Week in review.
Homework: Complete affinity mapping, initial insights.
Visualizing synthesis
Insights that stick. Mapping, frameworks, storyboards, characters.
Homework: Finalize insights, visual synthesis.
Storytelling
Techniques and examples of storytelling for research. Draft narrative of research and presentation.
Homework: Work on presentation.
Storytelling
Build presentation.
Homework: Work on presentation.
Storytelling
Practice presentation. Refine presentation
Homework: Complete presentation.
Final
Final presentation with guests in attendance. Class review.Turn in Individual Work List Week 3.
Methodology
Collaborative learning - students will be grouped in teams in which they will learn from and help one another, and work towards a shared objective
Project-based learning - the majority of student work will be to develop a team project that will last for the entire module. Specific assignments will be steps towards completion of the project.
Grading
Alice Ro took a circuitous route to her field, going from anthropology to publishing to metal-smithing to industrial design school, where she discovered that design research gave her the means to put her many interests together.
Now Alice works as a strategic designer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, where she created an initiative for patient experience, All Care Together, that won the Design and Innovation Conference’s 2019 award for Empathy. Her 17 years of practice have included consultancy and in-house work, services and products, teaching and mentoring. She believes sensitivity to the human experience is key to designing meaningful solutions. She lives in Brooklyn, NY, and makes pottery in her spare time.
See full profileApply for this course
Design Research Methods & Practice
by Alice Ro
Total hours
45 Hours
Dates
Mar 13 - Mar 31, 2023
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.