METHODOLOGY
DESIGN METHODOLOGY
The purpose of this IRP is to craft, test, iterate, and reflect on an experiential solution to solve a problem within industry. To design an experience, I utilize experience design’s (XD) user-centric methodology of gaining empathy with users to learn their actual needs prior to conceptualizing design, rather than relying exclusively on designer intuition or internal feedback (Stickdorn et al, 2018). Compared to traditional development strategies which set fixed goals and processes (Muntean and Surcel, 2013), design methodologies adopt a more flexible and pragmatic approach which welcomes discovery, by validating concepts in practice (Dalsgaard, 2014).
The designer’s mindset is seen as provoking innovation through its iterative process (Design Council, 2020). Iteration consists of ongoing experimentation, rapidly testing prototypes to determine which ideas may persist or require a pivot. Prototyping is a safe way for designers to explore the unknown, using a feedback loop to enhance understanding incrementally with each successive cycle (Diderich, 2020). Neumeier (n.d.) refers to this as 'thinking by making', a term that mirrors the process of learning by doing. Stickdorn et al, (2018) submit that the rapid testing which is the basis for new ideas is likely to result in a handful of wins along with a multitude of failures.
The design methodology for this project aligns with the double diamond, a 4-stage model of creative process, where the first diamond focuses on what to design, and the second considers how (Design Council, 2020). Despite a deceptively neat and linear appearance, creativity is a decidedly messier process (Newman, n.d.).
Fig. 2 Double Diamond showing the divergent and convergent stages of creative process (Credit: Götschel, 2018)
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The methodology I have employed is action research, a phenomenological inquiry which reacts to events unfolding in real time, described eloquently by Marshall (1999) as living life as inquiry. Lewin (1946) devised this research method of learning through problem solving which takes place in context instead of a lab setting. Within this self-reflective research strategy, experiences I draw from this project as well as from my background as a visual designer profoundly influence how and what I choose to probe. Sense-making occurs in the midst of learning by doing (Yanow and Tsoukas, 2009). Much like design thinking's emphasis on iteration, the Lewinian spiral refers to an iterative process of continuous learning that results when actions are developed, executed, monitored, scrutinized and improved upon Kemmis and Me Taggart (1982). Similarly, Argyris and Schon’s (1978) description of how the action researcher’s perceptions are developed into hypotheses which are tested through design interventions, is nearly identical to the goals for this research project. Action research methods are probably less common than traditional practices, but the process is aligned perfectly with my topic of experiential learning.