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Visualizing Primary Design Research: Analyzing Interviews in Primary Design Research using Qualitative Research and Ethnographic Principles and Graphic Design to Communicate the Results

Srirangarajan, Bhooma
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1406880596

Abstract Details

2014, MDES, University of Cincinnati, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Design.
One of the biggest challenges for designers today is to effectively communicate and validate the research they have conducted during the course of a design project. The following thesis proposes a method to visually communicate primary research to users who may or may not have domain knowledge about the subject and context within which a design(s) endeavor is proposed. Primary research is often the most difficult to communicate as it is an amalgamation of a variety of data collection methods like, observation, interviews, oral surveys, digital surveys, co-creations, etc. In order to make sense of the collected data and organize it within a paradigm that encourages and supports design solutions, the data needs to be analyzed for its content. To prove this hypothesis, first, a systematic evaluation method, building on the principles of ethnography and content analysis, has been theorized to analyze the data. The ethnographic study includes the observation of: history, attitude (climate), terrain, habitat and desires, of a user group. A combination of two content analysis methods, the direct approach and the conventional approach has been proposed. The direct method of content analysis allows users to be armed with a theory about the context of the problem, while collecting data, promising a scope for innovation. The conventional approach, on the other hand, promises the possibility of finding new issues through coding and analysis of data. Next, the information is designed into an info graphic using icons and layers, which have then been tested with two small control groups. The first, with no previous knowledge about the area of research, and the second, with limited awareness about the information that has been collected, albeit not directly involved in conducting said research. Using the research conducted in the Live Well Collaborative along with the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Medical Center’s iTransition team, this paper illustrates the use of a skeletal structure to analyze the data collected from the interviews. The structure is designed using the aforementioned ethnographic principles to ensure a comprehensive and unbiased insights. The insights are designed onto a predetermined framework informed by graphic design and communication sensibilities in order to best communicate the results. The graphic model consists of three layers of information: Framework layer, Immediate Information layer and Insights/Themes & Annotations layer. The Framework layer explains the category of information designated to each quadrant, the Immediate Information layer contains information that has been directly communicated to the interviewers by the participants and the Insights/Themes & Annotations layer contains information that has been gleaned by the research team supported by useful callouts. This layer contains information extracted through analysis of the interactions: reading of subtext, body language, language use etc. This paper proves that visually designing the analyzed information collected during primary research, using icons and layering the information using a defined structure, will convey the insights from primary research more effectively.
Renee Seward (Committee Chair)
Oscar Fernandez, M.F.A. (Committee Member)
Paul Zender, M.F.A. (Committee Member)
72 p.
Design
interviews; primary research; icons; visualize; layered information; ethnography

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Srirangarajan, B. (2014). Visualizing Primary Design Research: Analyzing Interviews in Primary Design Research using Qualitative Research and Ethnographic Principles and Graphic Design to Communicate the Results [Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1406880596

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Srirangarajan, Bhooma. Visualizing Primary Design Research: Analyzing Interviews in Primary Design Research using Qualitative Research and Ethnographic Principles and Graphic Design to Communicate the Results. 2014. University of Cincinnati, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1406880596.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Srirangarajan, Bhooma. "Visualizing Primary Design Research: Analyzing Interviews in Primary Design Research using Qualitative Research and Ethnographic Principles and Graphic Design to Communicate the Results." Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1406880596

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1406880596
506
© 2014, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Visualizing Primary Design Research: Analyzing Interviews in Primary Design Research using Qualitative Research and Ethnographic Principles and Graphic Design to Communicate the Results by Bhooma Srirangarajan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.
Release 3.2.12