The slides form a workshop on design research synthesis during the Interaction Design Association (IxDA) meeting at IDEO Munich, Germany.

1. mail@stephanengl.com • twitter: @stengl • www.stephanengl.com

3. Analysis and Synthesis
1. What are they anyway?
2. Why should we care?
3. What are core activities?
4. Do we have best practices?
5. Explain your best practices
6. Discussion

4. Analysis and Synthesis
1. What are they anyway?
Presentation
2. Why should we care?
15 - 20 min
3. What are core activities?
4. Do we have best practices? Workshop
5. Explain your best practices 50 - 60 min
6. Discussion remaining time

5. What are they anyway?

7. Tim Brown

8. „The creative process […] relies on synthesis, the
collective act of putting the pieces together to
create whole ideas […] to sift through it all and
Tim Brown
identify meaningful patterns.“

9. „The creative process […] relies on synthesis, the
collective act of putting the pieces together to
create whole ideas […] to sift through it all and
Tim Brown
identify meaningful patterns.“
Steve Baty

10. „The creative process […] relies on synthesis, the
collective act of putting the pieces together to
create whole ideas […] to sift through it all and
Tim Brown
identify meaningful patterns.“
„Analysis is that oft-glossed over, but extremely
important step in the research process that sits
between observation […] and our design
Steve Baty
insights or recommendations. In many respects,
analysis is crucial to realizing the value of our
research since good analysis can salvage something
from bad research, but the converse is not so true.“

11. „The creative process […] relies on synthesis, the
collective act of putting the pieces together to
create whole ideas […] to sift through it all and
Tim Brown
identify meaningful patterns.“
„Analysis is that oft-glossed over, but extremely
important step in the research process that sits
between observation […] and our design
Steve Baty
insights or recommendations. In many respects,
analysis is crucial to realizing the value of our
research since good analysis can salvage something
from bad research, but the converse is not so true.“
Jon Kolko

12. „The creative process […] relies on synthesis, the
collective act of putting the pieces together to
create whole ideas […] to sift through it all and
Tim Brown
identify meaningful patterns.“
„Analysis is that oft-glossed over, but extremely
important step in the research process that sits
between observation […] and our design
Steve Baty
insights or recommendations. In many respects,
analysis is crucial to realizing the value of our
research since good analysis can salvage something
from bad research, but the converse is not so true.“
„Design synthesis is an abductive sensemaking
process of manipulating, organizing, pruning
and filtering data in an effort to produce
Jon Kolko information and knowledge.“

13. Input Output
Raw Data Knowledge
Design Problem Design Solution

14. Input Output
Raw Data Knowledge
Design Problem Design Solution
Katie M. Scott

15. Input Output
Raw Data Knowledge
Design Problem Design Solution
„[…] design synthesis is treated like the magical step
that happens between structured research protocols
and organized design iterations.“
Katie M. Scott

16. Input Output
Raw Data Synthesis Knowledge
Design Problem Design Solution
„[…] design synthesis is treated like the magical step
that happens between structured research protocols
and organized design iterations.“
Katie M. Scott

17. Why should we care?

19. • more invisible artifacts
explicit visualization
• more people involved
different audiences, traceability, credibility
• more complex problems
responsibility, transparency
• more speed
iteration, integration

21. • more invisible artifacts
explicit visualization
• more people involved
different audiences, traceability, credibility
• more complex problems
responsibility, transparency
• more speed
iteration, integration

23. • more invisible artifacts
explicit visualization
• more people involved
different audiences, traceability, credibility
• more complex problems
responsibility, transparency
• more speed
iteration, integration

25. • more invisible artifacts
explicit visualization
• more people involved
different audiences, traceability, credibility
• more complex problems
responsibility, transparency
• more speed
iteration, integration

26. What are core
activities?

27. Deconstruction
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28. Pruning
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29. Organization
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30. Abstraction
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31. Summarization
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laborum. laborum.
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32. Deconstruction
Pruning
Organization
Abstraction Synthesis
Summarization
…

33. Do we have best
practices?
Workshop

35. Input Output
Raw Data Synthesis Knowledge
Design Problem Design Solution

38. watch „pattern recognition“ on vimeo

39. watch „pattern recognition“ on vimeo

40. input methods, activities, tools output

41. input methods, activities, tools output
observation
field notes
interview
statements

42. input methods, activities, tools output
observation method:
field notes x/y analysis
interview activities:
statements deconstructing field notes
and statements on post-
its, sorting them for each
participant and re-
arranging them for
pattern recognition.
tools:
post-its

43. input methods, activities, tools output
observation method: a contextual
field notes x/y analysis model of
mobile
interview activities: gaming
statements deconstructing field notes
and statements on post-
its, sorting them for each
participant and re-
arranging them for
pattern recognition.
tools:
post-its

44. Workshop
• 2 - 3 persons per group
• 20 - 30 minutes
• visualize your analysis and synthesis process
• consider different points of view
(researcher, designer, client …)

45. Questions
• What is typical input and • What has worked well
output of your synthesis in your experience, what
process? has not?
• What activities and tools • Is there a way to „store“
are used during elements or results of
synthesis? the synthesis process so
that they can be re-used
• Who is involved before, for similar projects?
during and after the
synthesis process? • …

46. Explain your best
practices
Workshop

47. „synthesis of synthesis“
3 groups
3 different approaches

51. Discussion
… there was a lot!

52. Uncertainty and
unanswered questions
prevail.
„As a discipline we formalized the research and to some
extent the design part, but synthesis somehow still
seems like a no-mans land.“
Katie M. Scott

53. Let‘s keep discussing.

54. Let‘s keep collecting.

55. Synthes
is

56. mail@stephanengl.com • twitter: @stengl • www.stephanengl.com