Summary of Research Methods for Product Design
Research can be defined as a search for knowledge or a systematic investigation. Its purpose is to discover facts and reach conclusions. Scientific research is based on universal truths and looks for theories that explain the properties of the world around us. On the other side, design research seeks to improve the world. It breaks with the determinisms of the past and uses images, models, and prototypes to research things that do not exist yet.
- Research into and about design: critical investigation with an objective view looking into the history, theory, and context of a designed object.
- Research as design: making designed objects as research. Gathering and testing of ideas, materials, and techniques. The objects don’t necessarily make an original contribution to knowledge.
- Research through design: taking something from outside the design world and translating it through the medium. New knowledge is generated by the experimental practice.
- Primary Research: original research to collect new data
- Secondary research: summary, collation or synthesis of existing research.
Design research process
- Problem identification
- Identifying the customers’ needs and analysis of a design brief
- Designing a number of different concept designs
- Refine the chosen concept into a product
- Transforming the chosen concept into a fully detailed design.
- Production of the design determining what processes and techniques should be employed.
Understand- Observe- Visualize- Review- Implement
Research methods involved in the design process
- Research (background stage, exploratory stage)
- Looking
- Learning
- Asking
- Evaluating
- Communicating
- The brief
- Learning
- Looking
- Asking
- Communicating
- Design development
- Making
- Looking
- Asking
- Evaluating
- Detail Design
- Testing
- Making
- Production
- Evaluating
- Communicating
Product design process and methods
Design research methods support the idea of thorough research in order to provide invaluable data, expertise, and knowledge through observing. This should also consider the product’s final disposal and recycling as well as how it’s manufactured, transported, packaged, etc, from an environmental point of view.
Analyzing research: the majority of design research is qualitative rather quantitative. The designer develops a method of categorizing data to look at the big picture and highlight the important parts of the discoveries. The designer has to step back once the data is sufficient and look for patterns and relationships emerging from the research.
The methods of research must be: systematic, rigorous, critical, reflective, ethical, sustainable and communicative to others.
