Design Research, Being Wrong, Sketching, & Personas

IF our design does not appear to have significant difference compared to other teams’ designs, does it negate the value of the research we did? Should we conclude we would have been better off had we done just the “right” amount of research so that we can show “we have research to back it up” after we’ve shaped our design ideas?

In what ways can a design set itself apart when it’s based on “really good research?”

What does “really good design research” mean?

How might we have done it differently so that the research would have been more helpful?

What’s the value of design research?

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“I know it’s going to be wrong, but I’ll learn.” Eric said this in the 9/22 class. I like it. Anyhow, it’s quite likely when I’m doing something I know is going to be wrong, or when I try to do something right, I’m likely to drive some people nuts. C’est la vie. If affected, you can always propose to stop me.

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Denique noticed my way of sketching iterations Thursday night. She not only voluntarily showed me how to sketch them, but also patiently explained the reason behind it and addressed all my reservations/resistance effectively. I had watched the Buxton Stanford video and read his book, but still didn’t get it. Denique used the example I was working on and contrasted my way of sketching versus a better way. Combining this with what I had just learned from Joel and Jeff, I was able to break some of my bad habits and insecurity about sketching almost right after Denique’s illuminating instruction. I can’t thank you all enough! Believe it or not, I’ve found pleasure in sketching even though I just started.

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Jeff Mahacek’s talk on 9/22 took persona development to a level I had not known. It’s quite interesting.

Alan Klement contrasts personas with “jobs to be done” and “characters.” Klement’s ideas seem more applicable in thinking through which design features to include, whereas personas always seem more distant and artificial in such applications, no matter how “real” they may seem in just looking at them. Perhaps, like Gopi said to me yesterday in another context (and I think Marty said the same thing, too), the key is to learn when to use what tool. I can see the use of personas to invoke empathy. The question is: can Klement’s method do both? Since personas are required in the assignment, I guess for now I’ll incorporate Klement’s idea into persona developments.