Is Bike Riding "Research"?

In previous blog entries I have focussed on the historical research I have undertaken into bike culture and design.

As an introduction to some product testing I will shortly undertake, I thought I’d set out a basic introduction to the notion of “experiential learning”, and put forward some research strategies to empower the designer.

Is riding a bike research? What about paddling a kayak? Or experiencing a new café or bar interior? Or is research something we do in a library on the internet, or out in the street collecting data with questionnaires and surveys? And do designers need to research anyway? The answer to all of these questions is “yes”. Research underpins everything we do in our practice as designers.

Put simply, we research so that that we can design better.

We research empirically by physically exploring design objects and interior spaces. We conduct product evaluations, “reverse engineering” and dismantling products to learn how they were manufactured. We conduct SWOT and PESTE analyses to measure the merit of a design. We take inspiration from films and popular culture and learn from the examples of those who have designed before us. We allow the history of design to inform our design decisions. Wonderful interior spaces, colours and textures are noted and discussed. Even the smells and sounds of the design are explored - we can be guided by all of our senses. We document our world with camera, with video, with our eyes open for new opportunities.

As a part of our design strategy we ask a number of questions. Has our intended design idea been attempted before? We don’t waste time “reinventing the wheel”. We ask ourselves - in what way is our imagined design outcome different than others on the market? Who owns it? – we do a patent search to see whether someone already owns an idea we’d like to explore. What material is it to be constructed from and what size should it be? – there might be an Australian Standard or Building Code governing these physical considerations. What is the potential market for our space or product? – we do an Australian Bureau of Statistics search to access population figures.

We read the current literature in our field, beginning with “primary” information. Site visits are made visiting new housing developments and company showrooms and factories to collect brochures. Sometimes it is necessary to collect evidence from consumers who are currently using a similar product to the one we are attempting to design. We seek ethics clearance within our University allowing us to conduct a survey with consumers and we incorporate their feedback into our design. We consider the needs of our imagined users. Designers are service providers and the needs of the client and the user and the environment are our responsibility. We ask other questions. What “secondary” information academic writings already exist on the subject? Books and journal articles keep us abreast of the latest scholarly debates. This list of research strategies is just a beginning.

Design is a cross-disciplinary activity and it is often necessary to engage with information from Business, Science, Engineering, Psychology and other fields of human endeavour

Then we take a pencil and draw a line and continue to “think” on the sketch book page. Remember - research underpins all design activity.