The document discusses the process of synthesis in design research. It emphasizes that synthesis is the process of turning research findings into the beginnings of design solutions. Key points include:
- Designers should spend more time understanding the problem than solving it.
- The goal of synthesis is to develop a clear understanding of the problem from research and build consensus across a research team.
- Techniques like affinity diagrams and grouping themes can help organize insights during synthesis.
- Synthesis results in actionable insights and challenge statements to guide further prototyping and testing.
3. “If I had an hour to solve a problem
I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about
the problem and 5 minutes thinking
about solutions”
-Albert Einstein
4. Designers often try to solve a design
problem while simultaneously trying
to understand the design problem
- Exposing the Magic of Design by Jon Kolko
5. Designers often try to solve a design
problem while simultaneously trying
to understand the design problem
- Exposing the Magic of Design by Jon Kolko
10. Findings are observed
behaviors or quotes.
Insights show us what
people do, why they do it
and how we can design a
solution for it.
11. Insights show us what people do, why
they do it and how we can design a
solution for it.
People’s true needs and
motivations
Observed behavior or quote
Actionable design hypothesis
12. Less than 3 suggests you
didn’t cover a wide
enough range of people.
More than 8 suggests that
you might be expressing the
same insight multiple times.
So how many insights should we have?
16. Closely review the notes
Write down behaviors, emotions, and
verbatim quotes on post-it notes
Group notes on the whiteboard
Watch patterns emerge
Rearrange the notes as you continue
assess the patterns
Grouping Emerging Themes
17. Affinity diagrams organize and prioritize insights
Observations,
Behaviors,
Quotes
I asked someone
who did it
I asked lawyers I didn’t compare
That are
personalized to
them
wanted to hire my
first employee
In the right
location
Insights
People don’t
know what they
don’t know
People just want
it dealt with
Looking for
someone they
trust
Actionable
insight
People need
to compare
They need to
know you can
be trusted
Within their
family
20. “In 25 years of doing this,
in virtually every usability test I’ve seen,
we knew what the top 3 problems were
once the final user had left the session.”
- the 7 deadly sins of user research, David Travis
21. You know you’ve done usability testing
correctly when
You already have a strong sense about
what you’re going to fix before your
round of testing is done.
26. Archetypes help organize useful quotes,
data, and anecdotes from interviews
“A quote that sums up his interview”
Goals
What are some of Dave’s goals?
What did he say?
Quotes that stood out to us
What did we observe?
What we noticed but he didn’t mention
Behaviors, habits, and workarounds
Meet Dave, again
27. User Journeys based on research visualizes the current
experience for how people solve problems. Here is a
sample for how people select an HR solution.
Trigger
Why did you start looking for an HR solution?
Search
Where did you start looking?
Compare
How many services did you look at?
Decide
What was your deciding factor?
Sign Up
How did you feel after you chose?