T2 Report

THE IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING THE BEHAVIOURS OF PEOPLE IN THE FIELD OF DESIGN RESEARCH AND COMMUNICATION.

Task two - Research Methods Report. 3,087 Words Theory Supporting Practice

Tiffany Fishleigh MA Fashion Management and Communication

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CONTENTS 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 7 1.1 What is design research, and why do we use it? ................................................................................ 9 1.2 The value of using design research within understanding real people ..................................... 10, 11 2. Literature Review ................................................................................................................................ 12 2.1 Qualitative Research Methods .......................................................................................................... 13 2.2 Participant Observation .................................................................................................................... 13 2.3 Anthropology and Ethnography ........................................................................................................ 15 3. Case Study 1 ....................................................................................................................................... 19 3.1 Communicating play through design ................................................................................................. 19 4. Case Study 2 ....................................................................................................................................... 20 4.1 Design thinking ................................................................................................................................. 20 4.2 Behaviours and customer loyalty ...................................................................................................... 20 4.3 Trends ............................................................................................................................................... 23 5. Reflection ............................................................................................................................................. 25 6. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................... 27 7. Bibliography ........................................................................................................................................ 29

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DESIGN IS REALLY AN ACT OF COMMUNICATION, WHICH MEANS HAVING A DEEP UNDERSTANDING OF THE PERSON WITH WHOM THE DESIGNER IS COMMUNCATING.” - Donald A. Norman

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INTRODUCTION Within this module, four research method labs have been conducted along with a presentational research poster in task 1.

Task 2 communicates a question in which we as designers must reflect upon in our own design practice.

The paper presents the attention on the following research method question: “Design research is about understanding real people in the context of their everyday lives and then using what we learn to inspire our work� IDEO. Discuss the challenges the designers might face in understanding real people? Draw on a range of examples, which are solutions to these challenges.

The first section of this report follows a literature review where I discuss the use of qualitative research methods, providing a short history of observational methods, and then considering different issues around types of observational methods, such as participant observation.

In the second half of this section I discuss anthropology and ethnography and how these methods reflect one another in understanding real people in an observational field, later discussing the importance of ethics within this practice led study.

Supporting this with two case studies, one of which looks into (playing with people) a previous method lab from one of the sessions, linking examples of work undertaken by other practitioners understanding ways of communicating play with participants in a creative context.

The other explores the relationship between designer and consumer, answering the question of how can designers adopt the process of design thinking and deliver the ultimate brand promise to their customers within their company?

The paper later reflects on trends forecasting and how it communicates with people relating the methods of research back to my own design discipline.

The aim of this report is to understand people in their everyday lives by undertaking several research methods, and how we as designers can manipulate what we learn in order to inspire us within our individual practices.

Throughout the report reflection points will be drawn upon with a range of examples, which are solutions to the challenges designers face with working with people.

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1.1

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DESIGN IS A CREATIVE APPROACH TO PROBLEM SOLVING USING THE POWER TO TACKLE COMPLEX AND PRESSING SOCIAL ISSUES. IT IS PEOPLE-CENTRED, GETTING STRAIGHT TO THE HEART OF AN ISSUE TO ENCOURAGE NEW PERSPECTIVES AND GENERATE POWERFUL IDEAS” (Changing behaviour by design, 2012)

WHAT IS DESIGN RESEARCH, AND WHY DO WE USE IT? There are many reasons for carrying out research and the methodologies that are used will depend on the purpose. (J, Gaimster. 2011. p.2). In the process of design, research is fundamental in regards to generating new ideas, exploring possibilities and understanding situations or a problem by uncovering people’s requirements, theories, cultures and products.

The field of design research explores both attempting to design a product around a methodologies and social sciences; these particular subject. tools help researchers create ideas or possible answers.

Design research enables the researcher to generate ideas and themes for a parResearch is not always obligatory within ticular product or service used to respond design, however without the background to a person’s needs. The influences of research and information on people, can design originate from the consumers or lead to problematic situations later when target market.

Fig 1. Design Research Squiggle Tiffany Fishleigh

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THE VALUE OF USING DESIGN RESEARCH WITHIN UNDERSTANDING REAL PEOPLE Two of the most frequently used research methods are quantitative and qualitative research; these two methodologies help develop new ideas, explorations, conversation and strategic information.

For instance, questions may draw to, What type of product is needed for the design process to work? The type of characteristics included on that particular product?

How should it operate?

For this paper we study qualitative research and in particular observational methods and how it is used to analyse, observe explore and participates in the lives of others learning about situations that will later provide the knowledge that addresses important questions they may be useful to look at throughout design processes.

Although the research itself may not provide a substantial answer, it will indicate a creative process and a step forward into generating new ideas.

Fig 2. Design Research Observation Diagram

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1.2

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LITERATURE REVIEW 12

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2.1 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS A frequently used research method is called qualitative research. From this specific study we learn that not all research is achieved through numbers and charts.

Many businesses and organisations depend on conversation. This method includes social and natural sciences and is also frequently used within market research. (En.wikipedia.org, 2017).

This type of study is primarily used as an exploratory research method, which highlights people’s behaviours and real life situations in a deeper context. This can also be recognized as ethnography, as this is a research method, which is used by designers to observe and interact with people as a study within their everyday lives. (Spotless, 2017).

When businesses and organisations conduct market research, one of the most frequently used methods involves qualitative research. Many companies will enforce focus groups, interviews, surveys and other innovative research methods in order to gather people’s honest opinions of how they feel towards something.

(Spotless, 2017).

This method is important for decision making and collecting valuable information that can have a critical impact on a company.

One of the most commonly used processes in qualitative research is observation.

When directing this research, it is usually analysed in small sample sizes, this can become difficult when collecting data as it can be very subjective, however it can expose meaning.

2.2 PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION Participant observation is a type of observation that originates from an anthropological method, engaging with a group or society, participating in their everyday lives. For example, when the designer/researcher becomes a participating member of a certain situation being studied, they will explore the day-to-day activities undertaken and experiences of which people are involved in together.

This is exemplified in the work undertaken

by William Whyte. Whyte was an organisational analysis, journalist and people watcher. (En.wikipedia.org, 2017).

After publishing a book in 1959, he turned his full attention to studying the behaviours of people in urban environments. Whyte would observe street gangs and analysed how they operated in Boston in the late 1930s. In order to do this, Whyte became one of the gang members, conducting an accurate and honest data analysis.

Interpreting and analysing participant data is not always an easy option and not always as effective as would hope for.

tors, where researchers may only deal with the person or people who seem open to interact. Another problematic situation can lead to selective memory, where the researcher only remembers selective things that seemed important at a certain time.

It can be difficult to analyse this data, especially if not done correctly. However there are several solutions to these challenges.

The most effective ways in which designers can document accurate research is through keeping a journal and frequent field note taking including the general guidelines of subject, times, events and feelings.

It can be useful to have both visual and written content in order to support their findings. Another widely used source of gathering data is when researchers work with memory joggers, both video recordings and audio.

There can be several challenges that designers face when aiming to understand real people and gathering data. This can include selective attention, where the researcher only focuses on one aspect of a situation/subject and ignoring others.

Another issue looks at interpersonal fac-

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ANTHROPOLOGY & ETHNOGRAPHY Anthropology is the study of people and cultures. It is a long established discipline, which has additional field of studies included such as ethnography. Ethnography is predominantly based on anthropology, as it is a field-based methodology, which employs several forms of observations and social practices.

In order to be a good researcher, designers must involve themselves by participating in the lives of whom they are trying to conduct research from. Ethnography is useful when researchers are conducting a study of a group of people through direct contact with its culture and social interactions. (Ec.europa.eu, 2017).

This particular qualitative research method is important while observing and interacting within the lives of others and the environment they are gathering data from.

When anthropology and ethnography are used together, designers may use

the observational method of committing themselves to a long period of their life living amongst a group of people in order to fully engage and become apart of that society, along with having to live and work alongside their research.

This type of method does not appear frequently used due to complications with costs and can be argued that it is not essential to use in the field of user-centred design project. (Spotless, 2017).

When documenting any form of information or framework being studied it is essential to follow basic ethical principles.

As a researcher, when undertaking any form of people interaction within a practice led research, designers should always inform clear and descriptive explanations of what you are doing and why, this is to assure the participants of protection to their dignity, wellbeing and safety and performing professional activities to conduct research.

Fig 3. The Barrel Model of Culture

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PLAY IS OUR BRAIN’S FAVOURITE WAY OF LEARNING” — Diane Ackerman

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3.1

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CASE STUDY 1: WHY IS PLAYFULNESS IMPORTANT WHEN COMMUNICATING OUR DESIGN WORK? COMMUNICATING PLAY THROUGH DESIGN The framework of play supports peoples learning and imagination. For designers, play is important in their field of work to communicate and interact their products/ installations with consumers or visitors.

Play is important for the designer in order to keep the flow of innovation and decision-making.

According to Tim Brown (2008), we as adults fear the judgement of our peers and are embarrassed to show off our ideas. The particular exercise conducted in the ted talk indicated evidence of the type of fear in which causes us to be conservative within our thinking; limiting ourselves to fully show off our potential and creativity.

When constructing the same exercise with kids, it is believed that they have no fear or embarrassment as they have the freedom to become lost and trust the environment of which they play. The founder of IDEO, David M. Kelly, decided to form the company where all employees would work as best friends, enabling them with the freedom and sense of trust, that lead towards creative risks that designers need to take.

Many creative working environments are designed to make people relaxed and

enjoy their work and including symbols to remind the employees to be playful.

Interior design works well where studios such as Pixar have decorative wooden huts were the animators workstations are based, again looking at the Google Swiss office where they are famous for their fireman’s pole and slide. Playfulness in the workplace can increase better creative solutions and can help us do our jobs better. (Brown, T. 2008).

As we get older we tend to lose our imagination and creativity. Exploratory Play is popular in young children as it creates curiosity for new things. Brown states how it is important for both the designer and the individual researchers to think with their hands by using materials to create something quickly, encouraging a form of learning and constructional play.

French graphic artist, Camille Walala also states, “playfulness is as important for adults as it is kids”. Her latest 2017 design installation in London features an interactive, disorientating maze that encourages visitors to explore colours and patterns and bring out their inner child.

Her tribal pop concept was to introduce a feeling rather than something to picture or to think of. It was built to interpret an element of surprise and a dream or vision.

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CASE STUDY 2: HOW CAN DESIGNERS ADOPT THE PROCESS OF DESIGN THINKING AND DELIVER THE ULTIMATE BRAND PROMISE TO THEIR CUSTOMERS WITHIN THEIR COMPANY? 4.1 DESIGN THINKING It is easy to fall into a pattern of working that produces similar or unsurprising results. Creative people need to continually expand their minds and challenge their own perceptions of thinking and analysing. (J, Gaimster. 2011. p.16). Design thinking is a process led by innovation and is fundamentally based around people.

This tool analyses observations, visualising, prototyping and collaborations. It is a process in which is strategically used within businesses to create an imaginable future for products and services.

According to Kevin Clark, design thinking is a remarkably underused tool. For businesses to be more innovative, their drive is increased by the use of design thinking. This tool is used in order to be able to fully achieve a strategic action. (T. Lockwood, 2010. Pg 47). The more that design research is used within qualitative methodological terms, it will lead a much more significant role when decisions are being made and initially will shape the future within businesses. The more that design researchers use this tool of design thinking as apart of their practice, the more innovative they will instinctively become, along with being able to problem solve within their profession. (T.Lockwood, 2010. Pg 251)

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4.2 BEHAVIOURS AND CUSTOMER LOYALTY Businesses can turn to a whole diverse range of new tools in order to keep the satisfaction and loyalty of their customers.

By improving services and marketing strategies may increase population, although more importantly sustain the loyalty from existing customers. Customers will remain loyal to a brand due to their positive experiences. Their emotional connection and behaviour can all depends on the delivery of service and experience provided.

Through positive experience, creates that trustworthy bond between business and customer. However, with regards to the product itself, this is where the key factor lies to which the customer is likely to spend most of its time. According to Jesse James Garrett, the product is also the touch point likely to create the strongest emotional reaction because it is in the product experience that your brand promise is fulfilled. (T.Lockwood, 2010. p. 252)

In regards to my own design discipline and how designers conduct their own market research, a key research method used within design includes primary research. This field of study involves qualitative research, gathering new data by communicating with participants, interacting and involving them in questionnaires, surveys, focus groups and interviews.

These particular methods of research are what support the foundations made from undertaking personal connections with people in a particular marketing field, supporting new ideas benefitting both business and consumer.

With regards to luxury house brands, for example, they develop their success through their creative marketing strategies by building on their brand loyalty.

By strengthening these relationships with their consumers creates a life long success and brings a steady stream of serious profit, as reported by Alayna Frankenberry.

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THEY ‘DO’ WITHOUT THINKING, AND WHAT THINKING THEY DO IS DONE WITHOUT IMAGINATION” (Dr. M. Raymond, 2010)

4.3 TRENDS Many designers within the fashion creative field are presumed to be influenced by clothes, however this is not the case.

Inspiration can emerge from social and economical trends, art movements and cultures. Researchers must be aware of what is happening in a wide range of fields including art, music, theatre and politics. (J, Gaimster. 2011. p.2).

lead to challenges and opportunities with regards to the fashion industry.

Forecasting is used in almost every area of business today. (Notjustalabel. com, 2017).Trend forecasters detect everything that is lifestyle related, for instance patterns or shifting attitudes of people by watching and observing how they behave, live, dress and communicate.

Fashion forecasting is a global career that Trends develop from wider issues in socifocuses on upcoming trends.(En.wikipedia. ety. These are often called macro trends. org, 2017). It is a continuous, complex (J, Gaimster. 2011. p.109). In observing business, which accounts for different people’s lifestyles, the macro trends sources of information and can lead to reflect on how people think and act and complications if done wrong. With social how they engage with social/political and media continuing to grow, designers and economical problems. To forecast fashion, trend predictors must continue to learn it is important to be able to analyse and and adapt to the environments, which can interpret. In order to understand the

information being received, forecasters must decide how it can relate to a particular market and consumer.

In relation to my own practice, a forecaster will combine statistical market research with observational methods of research, analysing patterns of consumer behaviours, similarly how I would conduct primary research methods for my projects by undertaking participant observations.

By analysing different movements and consumer cultures can lead the next emerging trend, which is crucial when being ahead of the competition.

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REFLECTION Within this report, it has been made clear about the importance of design research and why we as practitioners use this within our own design practice. I have discussed the meaning of design and how the research led by this can help to generate new ideas and explore future possibilities within understanding situations and real people.

The significance of quantitative research draws upon the attention of observational methodologies, ethnography and anthropology, reaching a deeper understanding within a design context and understanding people’s behaviours and real life situations.

In regards to my own design practice and in previous work undertaken, I have learned my best use of research methods in understanding real people are pre-

dominantly exploratory research methods including observational strategies and other field-based methods such as interviews and surveys. These methods have helped me to understand reasons, motivations and opinions of others and providing insight to help problem solve within my projects.

From the discussion on trends in section 4.3, I converse how the performance of conducting research follows similarly with regards to my design discipline, for example observing social and economical trends, art movements and cultures. It is important as a designer/researcher to be aware of what is happening in a wide range of fields including art, music and politics in order to produce a successful final product.

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CONCLUSION In summary, the research methods discussed are effective and valuable when it comes down to designing. The influence of design is driven from the consumers or target market. We learn how design research enables the researcher to generate ideas and immerse in activities collecting participant responses, which later lead to the design of a product or service.

Designers whose practice is in the field of marketing and communication will use methods of design research and in particular qualitative research in order to conduct data suitable to their practice. Designers may employ a range of research methods including focus groups, surveys and other interactive field experiments, as these few methods are ways of understanding real people.

When we discuss ethnography we learn that it is predominantly based on anthropology, as it is a field-based methology, which employs several forms of observations and social practices. Observational methods of research including participant observation has indicated a creditable

study if done correctly. We learn that when researching a particular group or society it is essential to follow basic ethical principles and conduct research in effective ways to gather accurate information.

In the first case study we learn that the importance of play performs an extensive role in design as it communicates products by interacting and engaging with people to become apart of the creative practice. Within the second case study I relate to design thinking and how this process is led by innovation and is fundamentally based around people. In regards to my own design practice and other fashion designers whom conduct market research, gather primary sources to enhance their data collection on understanding real people.

To conclude, we discuss several challenges designers may face when understanding real people when using the particular methods of research and how they can overcome these challenges by operating in certain ways, remaining ethical and professional at all times.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY Articles and Websites

Images

Ec.europa.eu. (2017). [online] Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/ research/participants/data/ref/h2020/other/hi/ethics-guide-ethnog-anthrop_en.pdf

Fig 1. Design Research Squiggle https://fivewhys.wordpress.com/2012/07/03/customer-development-as-a-design-squiggle/

En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Fashion forecasting. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fashion_forecasting

Fig 2. Design Research Observation Diagram https://www.pinterest.co.uk/ pin/533254412105507291/?lp=true

En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Qualitative research. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qualitative_research En.wikipedia.org. (2017). William H. Whyte. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H._Whyte Notjustalabel.com. (2017). The Future of Fashion Forecasting. [online] Available at: https://www.notjustalabel.com/editorial/ the-future-of-fashion-forecasting

Fig 3. The Barrel Model of Culture https://www.cheatography.com/emma-bea/cheat-sheets/social-and-cultural-anthropology/ https://www.manrepeller.com/2017/10/celine-paris-fashionweek-ss18.html http://www.artsthread.com/blog/ddw16-design-academy-eindhoven-fashion-textiles/#prev

Spotless. (2017). Ethnography: When and How to Use It | Spotless. [online] Available at: https://www.spotless.co.uk/insights/ ethnography-when-and-how/

http://1granary.com/central-saint-martins-fashion/ma/hayley-grundmann-2/#!

Books

http://1granary.com/series/the-white-series/white-series-alexrusso/#!

Gaimster, J. (n.d.). Visual Research Methods in Fashion.

Lockwood, T. (2011). Design thinking. New York, NY: Allworth Press [u.a.].

Raymond, M. (2010). The Trend Forecaster’s Handbook. London: Laurence King Publishing.

Video Clips Brown, T. (2017). Tales of creativity and play. [online] Ted.com.

Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/tim_brown_on_creativity_and_play?language=en#t-583957

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THE IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING THE BEHAVIOURS OF PEOPLE IN THE FIELD OF DESIGN RESEARCH AND COMMUNICATION.

Task two - Research Methods Report. 3,087 Words Theory Supporting Practice Tiffany Fishleigh MA Fashion Management and Communication