This class focuses on methods of qualitative design research and design synthesis used to approach complicated problems of technology, behavior, and society. Students learn techniques and processes that allow them to gather data in the field, analyze that data in a rigorous and substantial way, and extract multi-dimensional insights, meaning, and trends.

As a result of taking this class, students will be able to:

• Develop a research plan that emphasizes the Contextual Inquiry methodology

• Conduct research according to the research plan

• Extract rich insights from data.

• Apply methods of design synthesis, data mapping, work, and task-flow modeling in the context of a large-scale interaction design problem

• Be able to educate non-designers in the value of ethnographic research

• Identify and utilize the appropriate tools to capture and synthesize user data into visualizations of an existing service or problem landscape

• Craft and communicate the functional and emotional attributes of a more ideal human-experience within a problem space, in the form of design criteria, and opportunity statements.