Programs | One Year Immersive | Quarter 2 | IDSE 203

Studio: Research & Synthesis


IDSE 203
Studio: Research & Synthesis


Course Overview

This course represents the start of the Interaction Design and Social Entrepreneurship entrepreneurial endeavor. Students will gather data through qualitative methods of contextual research, analyze that data, and begin to identify trends, patterns, insights and opportunities for design.

Outcomes and Competencies

Course Outcomes: As a result of taking this class, students will:

  • Identify patterns and trends in the context of a particular large-scale social problem

  • Identify opportunities for interaction design solutions that can positively impact and affect human behavior on a large, social scale

  • Identify opportunities for business interventions based on research and synthesis

  • Begin to identify design constraints and parameters in which to build and prototype design solutions

Scope: This initiative will last for the remaining 24 weeks of class. However, this syllabus and course covers only the current quarter of the project, explicitly focused on research, synthesis, and preliminary ideation. At the end of eight weeks, you should:

  • Have established a focus for in-depth research and design activities

  • Have acquired a depth of understanding related to the human behavior associated with your topic

  • Have acquired empathy for the people that will use the products, systems, and services that you define

  • Have identified core insights that can drive future design efforts

  • Have identified core design implications / principles to inform the ideation process

  • Have developed a series of storyboards, sketches and visual diagrams that articulate your understanding of the focus area in order to drive future design efforts

Course Schedule

Class 1

Theme: Research

In Class

  • Our Research & Synthesis Process – Group research & Debrief method

  • Begin research planning process

Out of Class

  • In your team, build a research and ethnography plan.

  • Begin conducting research. Refine ethnographic plan and recruit participants. Conduct ethnography with various users and constituents. Spend as much time in the field as possible.

Class 2

Theme: Research

In Class

  • Check-In Presentation (10 minutes per group): Initial research findings & Initial affinity diagram

  • Research Transcription, Affinity Diagram Creation

Out of Class

  • Continue ethnography and foundational research. Spend as much time in the field as possible.

  • Begin to document research (transcription)

  • Begin to create affinity diagram scaffold

Class 3

Theme: Research & Synthesis

In Class

  • Rotating synthesis – 1 team member switches per group for 2 hours each rotation.

  • Research Transcription

  • Affinity Diagram Creation

Out of Class

  • Continue synthesizing data through affinity diagramming & grouping themes. Use sketching & diagraming to make sense of the data.

  • Prepare a mid-point presentation with current research findings, progress on synthesis and process reflection.

Class 4

Theme: Research & Synthesis

In Class

  • Mid Point Presentations. Each group gets 15 minutes with 15 minutes of feedback from a faculty panel.

  • Synthesize panel feedback and continue working.

Out of Class

  • Continue work based on faculty feedback

  • Begin to identify and extract major insights

Class 5

Theme: Insights

In Class

  • Continue Synthesis, sketching, storyboarding and diagraming.

Out of Class

  • Readings

Class 6

Theme: Synthesis and Design

In Class

  • Identify design considerations, Theory of Change, and Storyboarding

Out of Class

  • Finalize design considerations

  • Begin theory of change, storyboards, and presentation

Class 7

Theme: Design

In Class

  • Trial Run: Presentation with Faculty panel

  • Refine Theory of Change and Storyboarding; Presentation Completion

Out of Class

  • Begin insight combination process

  • Start generating ideas (shoot for 100 ideas)

  • Complete and practice Presentation!

Class 8

Theme: Presentation

In Class

  • Final Presentations

Out of Class

  • Continue Ideation (shoot for 200+ ideas)

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