Boxes And Arrows : The Design Behind the Design

I think that more people should become comfortable with different research techniques, because whether people want to admit it or not, everyone is a researcher to one extent or another. And how great it would be if non-researchers got what the rest of us actually do!

This sounds really useful. A great practical guide for the less experienced and perhaps a nice refresher to those who get to do more research in their work.

One could look at this article the other way too as – article that outlines everything that researchers need to know about working with non-researchers. You know you have a smart kid when he reads “Children and how to manage them” and forms an ‘informed’ opinion on how he is being brought up.. :-)

The article doesn’t necessarily outline everything that researchers need to know about working with non-researchers, but there is an element of that involved. In my professional career, I’ve worked hard to discover the needs, expectations, and preferences of the “users” of my product, which in my case would be designers. I’ve thought about writing something for researchers discussing methods and priorities for people that are getting started in this field. For example, the importance of meeting a schedule and the consequences that it can have for the well-being of the product. I’ll definitely keep that in mind for a possible followup.

Hello, I submitted this idea a little over a month ago and haven’t had any response from Boxes and Arrows editors about whether they intend to use the article. I haven’t found any way to contact any editors to ask them these questions. I was wondering if someone at B+A could contact me and let me know if they were planning to use it at some time. Thanks.

Hi Demetrius,

We look through the ideas on a fairly regular basis, but it can often take a couple months for us to select an idea. Your idea will very likely be accepted, so don’t worry that we don’t know you’re there.

I do have a couple questions:

In what context are you planning on covering this subject? Who are the non-researchers?

I ask due to the oft-seen scenario where a designer is doing research that they will eventually use for the designs. That means s/he is both the researcher and non-researcher.

Thanks for the response Chris, I wasn’t sure of how the process worked. In this context, the researcher is anyone that is performing the research (designers included) and the non-researchers would be the engineers, other designers, marketing people and other stake holders that do not have experience with research and, as a result, don’t know what kind of logistics are involved. An example is the amount of time needed for recruitment. Someone that doesn’t have any research experience might not be prepared for the length of time that it takes to line up good participants. This article can help someone with little research experience understand the time and resources that are need to perform research.