Assignment 2.1: Design Research Plan

Due: Thursday, October 10, 3:00pm

This assignment is a component of Milestone 2. Be sure you have reviewed that larger context for this assignment.

The goal of this assignment is to develop an initial plan for your design research, encouraging you to work through details of how you can conduct that research.

As part of Milestone 2, you are required to conduct at least three design research activities to learn from people who can inform your design. This could be three interview-based sessions, or it could be two interview-based sessions and an alternate research activity. This is the minimum, but you are encouraged to pursue more as appropriate.

To start, develop two research questions that will guide your design research.

For each question, in one to two sentences, summarize what you already know that motivates asking this question (e.g., from personal knowledge, from background research). Be careful not to present assumptions as fact. However, it can be valuable to acknowledge potential assumptions as things you want to explore to gain further insight.

Then provide approximately one paragraph of rationale for pursuing this question. Your rationale should address:

Why this question is both feasible and meaningful (i.e., feasible to explore in a week, can provide meaningful guidance to your future design process).
Two or more types of information you could gather from participants to explore this question.
Initial thoughts on how you might incorporate learnings in considering potential designs.

After developing your research questions, propose one or more design research methods.

First, propose an interview-based design research method. Describe plans for applying this method, including:

Intended participants, including details relevant to your research question (e.g., about their background, about an environment where you will examine their current practices).
Style of interview (e.g., traditional interview, pair interview, activity and debrief).
Additional relevant details (e.g., to gain insight into your research question).

Describe a recruitment plan in enough detail to convince us you can find and engage with your target participants in the next week. This is necessary whether you intend to recruit readily available participants (e.g., undergraduate students at the University of Washington) or participants that are relatively difficult to access (e.g., busy doctors). Being as specific as possible, describing:

Planned recruitment activities.
When you will be conducting your design research.
Any steps you have already taken to recruit.
Plans to recover if recruitment is not initially successful in the necessary timeline.

Then propose a set of nine interview questions. Each question should directly contribute to answering one of your two larger research questions, but be specific enough that you can imagine a participant being able to answer it.

After proposing an interview-based method, also consider an alternate or complementary design research activity. Although interview-based methods are often appropriate, they are also not inherently the best or only way to perform design research. Many other design research methods are also available, including methods introduced in lecture or in resources like Universal Methods of Design.

Examples of alternate or complementary methods that have succeeded in prior offerings can include:

Contextual Inquiry (i.e., method 20 in Universal Methods of Design)
Diary Studies (i.e., method 30 in Universal Methods of Design).
Experience Sampling (i.e., method 37 in Universal Methods of Design).
Fly-on-the-Wall Observation (i.e., method 42 in Universal Methods of Design).
Personal Inventories (i.e., method 62 in Universal Methods of Design).
Shadowing (i.e., method 76 in Universal Methods of Design).
Surveys (i.e., method 83 in Universal Methods of Design).

Consider alternate or complementary methods and do one of:

Option 1. Propose an alternate or complementary design research method.

Describe an alternate or complementary design research method you may employ, either alongside your proposed interview-based method (e.g., a diary study in support of an interview) or instead of an interview-based method (e.g., observing the use of a space, distributing a survey).

Your description should be 1 slide, including relevant details of:
- Intended participants and recruitment plan (i.e., if different than your interview-based method).
- Types of information and insight this method would help you gather from participants.
- Additional details of your planned method (e.g., sample prompts, activities).
Option 2: Explain your rationale for focusing exclusively on an interview-based method.

Although you may choose to focus exclusively on an interview-based method, it is still important to consider alternate or complementary methods and their relative potential benefit.

In 1/2 a slide each, discuss two other design research methods you have considered and chosen not to pursue. briefly summarize:
- How you considered incorporating this other method.
- Why you decided to prefer your interview-based method (e.g., at least one benefit that the alternate method does not support).

Submission

Due: Thursday, October 10, 3:00pm

Within the Drive folder for course project files:

Identify the Slides deck corresponding to this assignment for your group. The deck provides a template for this assignment. Edit the deck in-place, so that you can easily share it in critique.
Prepare a Slides deck with the following structure:

Research Questions:
- 1 slide for each research question (2 slides total), consisting of:
  - The research question.
  - What you already know that motivates asking this question (e.g., from personal knowledge, from background research)
  - Rationale for pursuing this question.
Interview-Based Method:
- 1 slide: Method details.
- 1 slide: Recruitment details.
- 3 slides: 9 possible interview questions (i.e., 3 per slide).
Alternative Method:
- 1 slide, consisting of either:
  - Alternate or complementary method description and details.
  - Methods considered and rationale for preferring interviews.

Reminders and requirements:

Submission via Canvas is also required, in support of grading.
- Remove instruction slides and template markings from your deck before submission.
- Export a PDF of your deck, via the menu: File -> Download -> PDF Document (.pdf).
This is a group submission. Ensure your section and names of all group participants are appropriately clear.
Review and follow guidance on Clarity and Presentation.
Names of participants should be replaced with pseudonyms in all documents. It is important to protect participant anonymity, even in the case that reporting seems harmless.

The Drive folder for course project files is here:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Sm12CpuMNsKBqk6E_Ri875hfFs0A-IRS?usp=drive_link

Submit via Canvas here:

https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1746586/assignments/9730292

In Class

Be prepared to discuss your design research plan.

Completion Grading

This assignment will be graded on completion of 6 components:

Research Questions (2 total):

Present two meaningful and feasible research questions.

Summarize what you already know that motivates asking each question.

Provide rationale for pursuing each question.
Interview-Based Method Details:

Describe plans for applying this method.

Describe a recruitment plan.
9 Interview Questions:

Present nine interview questions that contribute to answering your proposed research questions.
Alternate or Complementary Method:

One of:
- Proposed Alternate or Complementary Method:
  
  Describe an alternate or complementary method, including relevant details of how you would apply this method.
- Rationale for Focusing on Interview-Based Method:
  
  Discuss two other design research methods you have considered and chosen not to pursue, including how you considered incorporating this other method and why you decided to prefer your interview-based method.
Clarity & Presentation

Prior Samples

Samples are from prior offerings that had different requirements. Samples are also intended only to illustrate a variety of approaches, and were not selected to be ideal or exemplary. These may help to see how prior students approached elements of a project, but be sure to understand and consider requirements and feedback in your own work.