Research for Designers: A Guide to Methods and Practice

by Gjoko Muratovski

Design is everywhere. It influences how we live, what we wear, how we communicate, what we buy, and how we behave.

To design for the real world and define strategies rather than just implement them, you need to learn how to understand and solve complex, intricate and often unexpected problems. Research for Designers is the guide to this new, evidence-based creative process for anyone doing research in Design Studies or looking to develop their design research skills. The Including interviews with 10 design experts from across the globe, this guide helps you put theory into practice and conduct successful design research.

Genres: Design, Nonfiction, Research, Art Design, Reference, Education

352 pages, Paperback

First published February 8, 2016

Reviews

[Joel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can hardly argue against the importance of the book. I do think that the knowledge of how to conduct rigorous research is highly relevant for design and definitely needs to be better embedded in university level design education. But I was disappointed in the book. It does a good job at presenting basic research methods, but there is very little critical discussion and too much space is given to specialised practical examples, when understanding how to implement the methods in day-to-day work feels more important. Very good for bachelor level students. Not as useful for professionals or master level students. They need to go further than this. Decent, but far from great.

[Sofia · Rating 2 out of 5]

UPG6 tog livet av mig. Men boken va intressant.

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book targets design students as well as professional designers who want to incorporate research into their design process. Although aimed specifically at designers, the book can also serve as a practical introduction to basic research methodologies for any member of a design team, including developers, technical writers, and management.

Muratovski argues that design has traditionally been seen as an artistic practice rather than a practical research-based approach to problems; in today’s market, however, design is increasingly interdisciplinary and designers must learn new skills to compete, and research is a key component of that.

The book is well organized and broken down into manageable sections and subsections that make it easy to find specific information; numbered lists, bullet points, illustrations, and real-world examples make the methodologies easily digestible. A brief summary follows each chapter. As an introductory textbook, Muratovski covers a wide breadth of research types; because of this, it sometimes lacks depth and specificity in certain areas.

Muratovski’s chapters on research methodologies offered numbered steps that outline the process from formulating the topic to presenting findings. Although not in-depth enough to provide a comprehensive plan for large-scale or academic research, this bare-bones approach is sufficient for small-scale commercial or educational projects.

[Mafalda ~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

it is what it is

[Adriana · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book filled all the gaps of knowledge about design research that I had while studying. Maybe it's my personal opinion but in Latin American education there's a huge lack of understanding of how to apply research for design or without making it very complex.
I think books like this should be mandatory in design syllabus for the last semesters, rather than only social-focused research books.