July 24

This course focuses on the benefits and practices of integrating design thinking (e.g., human-centered design) methods into qualitative inquiry. With roots in architecture, visual design, engineering, and business, design thinking (DT) complements qualitative research approaches by helping to foster emergent discovery and generate dynamic outputs with an emphasis towards action. This integration allows researchers to better engage their participants during data collection and data analysis stages while embedding an action-oriented, creative problem-solving approach into their qualitative research process.

This interactive workshop begins with a brief orientation to design thinking, and will blend mini-lessons with case studies and present opportunities for participants to practice select design thinking methods. While there are many versions of DT available, we will cover the methods offered by IDEO, the renowned design firm based in San Francisco, CA, and discuss the methods’ purposes and applications to qualitative research data collection, analyses, and analytic products:

• Extremes and Mainstreams: Recruiting extreme and mainstream participants of your intended audience
• Conversation Starters: Putting ideas in front of participants to spark dialogue and reactions
• Download Your Learnings: Sharing your learnings so that your individual learnings become part of your team’s collective knowledge
• Find Themes: Identifying patterns among data collected
• Design Principles: Turning themes into solution requirements
• Journey Maps: Creating a visual tool that tracks key moments and decisions in the solution from the participant’s perspective
• Storyboard: Crafting comic-book style frames to show a component of your solution
• Rapid Prototyping: Learning through making and collecting feedback from participants