Evernote is not brand new to i'm sure a lot of you. However, I think it is potentially a super powerful tool I have yet to delve deeply into for our research. It's super streamlined, free, and is tailored for efficiently organizing information, which definitely doesn't hurt the design research process.

Reading through the other posts so far was super illuminating.

I found this page from IDEO (they're cool, right?) to list a lot of cool tools we can use in our research. Not all of them will be immediately useful on our smaller scale projects, but some of them seem really powerful for what they seem to provide.

Here is a screen grab from an infographic on the relationship between food waste and fuel by graphic designer Evan MacDonald. Check his stuff out at www.evanmade.com

This portion of the infographic showcases all the research that informed the entire infographic, organized in a way that is very inviting to the reader, yet intuitive enough that reading all the text is not necessary to get the gist.

Check out the full infographic here.

MOOD BOARDS

"Most of us don’t think exclusively in words or text alone. Your mind is much more dynamic than that. When we create something, it’s more likely that a complex mix of different images, feelings, and colors swirl through your head. Your experiences and sensations inform your work and short of telepathy, it can be difficult to convey your design vision to others. A mood board allows you to share that vision in a way that speaks much louder than words alone."

This is a reference to get to know how and when to use mood boards to organize your thoughts and explain to others the direction your thoughts are leading you. 

http://blog.crew.co/mood-board/

Visualizing Design

Here are some great visual representations of Design Research.

Lastly, my favorite image I found was an article of 72 different visual analogies to use. Here is the Link

Design Research Techniques Website

Found this great website that is full of design research examples and case studies. It was pretty fun to scroll through and read about different design research techniques. Click here

Here is a quotation of the definition of Repertory Grid

"This technique has been used to gain insight into how a participant constructs an understanding of a given experience. It maps four layers of understanding, consisting of the overarching topic (e.g. vision-impaired patient), elements or descriptors associated with the topic (e.g. contact lens patient, spectacle patient, etc.), constructs around the descriptors similar to a spectrum (e.g. for the contact lens patient, he/she may receive hard vs. soft lenses), and lastly, ratings of elements on the constructs (e.g. 2 out of 5 on the scale of soft to hard lenses)."

The Importance of Design Reseach

Sometimes as designers we forget the importance of the design process. Going through the motions of creating or reiterating a design can be tedious, but its going through these motions is what gives us a firm understanding of what we are trying to achieve. When coming up with an idea, our goal as designers is to communicate these ideas to others ( as well as ourselves), to bring these function creations to life. This article goes over the process as well as what we need in order to be successful in the final outcome. http://char.txa.cornell.edu/language/creative.html ( read through all the pages)

13 Most Popular User Centered Design Methods

Now this is kind of a big one, because following this link will bring you to another 13 links all about different methods of approaching design and design research. I have only started to scratch the surface in reading the articles, but they cover everything from usability evaluation, to prototyping, to effective interviews. Enjoy.

Insight into design research and its relevance.

I spent sometime this week searching blogs for a non-academic description of design research. The author of the article below gives a great deal of explanation into the relevance of design research. She makes it clear that design research can utilizes standard data with more efficiency. This allows date to become more insightful and human centered, which in turn increase the understand of individual problems.

http://reboot.org/2012/02/19/design-research-what-is-it-and-why-do-it/

16 Digital Tools for Design Research

This is an image from Ideo about digital resources available for design research. Enjoy! Click here.

How to Identify the Best Design Problems

One of the most daunting challenges in the design process can often be identifying the problem you want to solve. I know that it always is for me. That's why I found this short article helpful in uncovering some strategies I may not have not of myself. Strategies that not only help find problems, but help identify which problems are worth your time.

Why Nobody Dislikes Lego

"Lego's latest design research: What Girls Want." Although this article was written a few years ago, the research that Lego did to understand their target audience better has been a game changer. Not only did they learn the specifics about the aesthetics girls look for and what girls enjoy doing while they play, but they also used different research strategies to get the information. It just goes to show that doing the research is definitely worth the time and sacrifice.

Info-graphics 101

You Decide!

Alright ladies and gentleman, this is directly relevant to our assignment that is due tomorrow.  The dos and don'ts pertaining to info-graphics according to some design journalist(Amy Balliett) that I found on the internet.  The article actually does a good job reminding us of some of the bigger items pertaining to info-graphics such that they ought to be easily digestible and that we should "show rather than tell".  Think of it as a bit of a brief refresher as you sit down to polish of your info-graphic tonight so that they look all fancy tomorrow in class.  Check out the link below:

Only good things can happen when you click this link.

9 Lessons from a Design Entrepreneur

I found an article that gives 9 lessons that are relevant from a design entrepreneur.  In short it outlines some key concepts that deal with designing in a space that is relevant to product design from a private entrepreneurial perspective.  Pretty quick read and might be a good jumping off point from which to continue some relevant research moving forward.  Check out the link below.

This is a link. You know you want to click me!

Ted Talk observe the norm.

In the past year I have become a little bit of a TED Talk addict, and  I have found many interesting presentations on design, architecture, and psychology. In fact I just came across one earlier today that sparked my interest, and I have included the link below. This TED talk challenges designers to see the world as it really is. That is to say designers need to have the ability to see the "invisible problems" that most people grow accustom to and never challenge.

https://www.ted.com/talks/tony_fadell_the_first_secret_of_design_is_noticing#t-4503

The Value of Design in Business Growth

For this post I just watched a video, it was very fulfilling though. The focus of it was to show how with design alone you can increase the size and profit of a business. This should go without saying, but it dives into more than just the typical new logo design. I also went to Design Council's website, the ones behind the design research that proves how it can improve business and found some interesting information about the specifics of what they do and who they have worked with.

-Robbie

Meh Article - Good Infographic

I think this infographic is quite successful. There is a good use of complementary and supplementary content. Since graphics can be changed to linguistic information more quickly than words, a proper equity must be found. The graphics and text balance each other nicely and utilize tactics such as size and proportionality effectively. 

Here's the link:

http://www.julienrio.com/marketing/english/5-reasons-use-infographics-improve-information-retention

Multi Material in 3d Printing

I thought this was interesting. The world of 3d printing is becoming more refined and precise day by day. Students at MIT were able to create a 3d printer that could print multiple materials in one job without stoping the process of the printer and changing cartridges.
       https://www.rt.com/usa/313858-multifab-3dprinter-ten-materials/

Gender difference in usage of bike share programs

Article from Core77 about why more men use bike share programs

Found this article on Core77 and was pretty intrigued mostly because gender tends to be a pretty common and popular issue in todays society. Though most of the article goes into why more men ride, I also found it interesting to see how far behind we (america) are in bike share programs. The Netherlands had programs like this as early as the 60's. Anyway's most of the reason of why women don't use this as much as men (in NYC at least) is mainly due to safety, as you will see in the article. 

Google Uses Google to Identify People's Questions and Give Them an Answer

People have a lot of questions about solar panels and how they can begin to use them. A clever man at Google saw this search trend and decided to help them out, by mapping them out. Check out the article and video:

http://www.core77.com/posts/40004/In-the-Future-Might-Google-Design-Products-to-Fit-Peoples-Queries

Being able to use pre-existing tools in a sustainable and innovate way to conduct research.

Evidence Based Design

Evidence Based Design: 

An emerging field of study, which utilizes observable patterns and complied evidence to inform the design practice. A relatively new field it borrows both ideas and terminology from fields such as environmental psychology,  architecture, and behavioral economics. Although it is mostly employed in an institutional setting where there is adequate build up of episode re-occurrence to derive credible data from, I think it ties into alot of what we have been reading about fostering a culture of innovation. Although it also brings to mind the dictates of a bureaucratic system of implementing change.

Here is a little break down:
Eppstien Uhen Architects: Evidence Based Design

Start Projects With Phase Zero

"Perhaps you ought to start your process a step back and find the right problem. It might be best to find the issues your clients’ client dealing with."

http://99u.com/articles/7301/start-projects-with-phase-zero

Design Research: What Is It and Why Do It?

"Design research is a vote against hunch-based reasoning. It prevents the need for endless testing, and provides a basis for evidence-based decision-making."

http://reboot.org/2012/02/19/design-research-what-is-it-and-why-do-it/

When to Use Which User-Experience Research Methods

"While many user-experience research methods have their roots in scientific practice, their aims are not purely scientific and still need to be adjusted to meet stakeholder needs. This is why the characterizations of the methods here are meant as general guidelines, rather than rigid classifications."

http://www.nngroup.com/articles/which-ux-research-methods/

This article had a great list of 20 ways to assess user experience and how to implement them into the design process.

How Do You Choose the Right UX Research Technique?

"It’s not about “numbers” or “words” when it comes to selecting user research techniques. It’s about solving a problem. The better you understand the actual problem, the easier it is to select the right technique."

https://www.interaction-design.org/ux-daily/630/how-do-you-choose-the-right-ux-research-technique

Why we need Design Research

http://www.cooper.com/journal/2008/5/design_research_why_you_need_i

"The time you spend up front understanding users and the domain will save time during the design and development process by reducing guesswork, re-work, and exploration down blind alleys."

Design Guidelines / Thoughts on Posters.

“Posters: Fifty artists and designers analyze their approach, their methods, and their solutions to poster design and poster advertising”, 1952.

Here is a little piece from a compilation of artists and designers methods and approaches to poster design.


Posters by Paul Rand

Excerpt:
  "By demanding that the poster be simple, bold, and striking these factors distinguish the poster unequivocally from the illustration which, like a miniature or easel painting, is intended for close and leisurely inspection and can therefore be complex and subtle." 

VIDEO: Close - Touch and Skin Interfaces

From The Design Research Lab

This video documentary highlights the DRL's research project on new forms of interaction through touch and gesture called "CLOSER."

Why you should check this out:
Though the technology is cool, I'm sharing this video because it's a cool way of documenting research in the prototyping/testing stages.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1X2_RyhC-jY&feature=youtu.be

Tools for Design Research: IDEO's recommendations

IDEO researcher, Dan Perkel, offers new ways to improve design research. In this article, "Digital Tools for Design Research," Perkel talks about digital tools and techniques used by IDEO.

Why you should check this out:

It highlights real digital tools currently being used to conduct design research - like Narrative Clip. It's a tiny wearable camera that could be used for logging "a day in the life" of users. 

https://labs.ideo.com/2014/09/19/digital-tools-for-design-research/

User centered design diagram

This could be a useful tool for our upcoming assignment.
http://www.uxbooth.com/articles/complete-beginners-guide-to-design-research/

1st person research

https://labs.ideo.com/2014/09/19/digital-tools-for-design-research/

This has a few really good resources to assist mainly with 1st person research.