Presentation at ServDes 2016 in Copenhagen, May 24-26, 2016. Many of today’s challenges that confront society are complex and dynamic and require new perspectives, new ways of looking at problems and issues, in order to be able to come to solutions that could not be found before. This process is called reframing and we suggest that one of the key stages in this process is thematic research, the search for themes that underlie these complex challenges. These themes generally turn out to be human themes, related to socio-emotional aspects of life. In this paper we report our experiences and lessons learned from a series of cases in which we experimented with various approaches to do this thematic research. Full paper published at http://www.ep.liu.se/ecp/article.asp?issue=125&article=029

1. Thematic Research in the
Frame Creation Process
Jos van Leeuwen, Dick Rijken, Iefke Bloothoofd,
Eefje Cobussen, Bram Reurings, Rob Ruts
The Hague University of Applied Sciences
The Hague, The Netherlands

2. Designers and public managers share the notion that the world is complex.
Engage stakeholders early in the process.
Explore the problem space, create empathy
and insights into human experiences.
Public governance should be looking for public values - to do so we need to
be more reflective, understand the world more qualitatively, exploratorily.
Christian Bason in his keynote

3. Call to Action
Ask yourself: how to put it in practice?
Christian Bason in his keynote

4. Wicked Problems
without clear boundaries
many aspects and dependencies
changing over time
involving many parties
open
complex
dynamic
networked

5. Reasoning Patterns in
Problem Solving

6. Reasoning Patterns in Problem Solving
What How Result
Science - logic reasoning
+ leads to
(thing) (working principle) (observed)
Based on: Dorst, K (2011) “The core of ‘design thinking’ and its application,”
Design Studies 32(6), 521–532. doi:10.1016/j.destud.2011.07.006

7. Reasoning Patterns in Problem Solving
What How ???+ leads to
(thing) (working principle) (observed)
Science - deduction
Based on: Dorst, K (2011) “The core of ‘design thinking’ and its application,”
Design Studies 32(6), 521–532. doi:10.1016/j.destud.2011.07.006

8. Reasoning Patterns in Problem Solving
What ??? Result+ leads to
(thing) (working principle) (observed)
Science - induction
Based on: Dorst, K (2011) “The core of ‘design thinking’ and its application,”
Design Studies 32(6), 521–532. doi:10.1016/j.destud.2011.07.006

9. Reasoning Patterns in Problem Solving
What How Result
Science - logic reasoning
+ leads to
(thing) (working principle) (observed)
Based on: Dorst, K (2011) “The core of ‘design thinking’ and its application,”
Design Studies 32(6), 521–532. doi:10.1016/j.destud.2011.07.006

10. Reasoning Patterns in Problem Solving
What How Value
Design - productive reasoning
+ leads to
(thing) (working principle) (aspired)
Based on: Dorst, K (2011) “The core of ‘design thinking’ and its application,”
Design Studies 32(6), 521–532. doi:10.1016/j.destud.2011.07.006

11. Reasoning Patterns in Problem Solving
??? How Value+ leads to
(thing) (working principle) (aspired)
Design - abduction (1)
Based on: Dorst, K (2011) “The core of ‘design thinking’ and its application,”
Design Studies 32(6), 521–532. doi:10.1016/j.destud.2011.07.006

12. Reasoning Patterns in Problem Solving
??? ??? Value+ leads to
(thing) (working principle) (aspired)
Design - abduction (2)
Based on: Dorst, K (2011) “The core of ‘design thinking’ and its application,”
Design Studies 32(6), 521–532. doi:10.1016/j.destud.2011.07.006

13. Reasoning Patterns in Problem Solving
What How Value+ leads to
(thing) (working principle) (aspired)
Design reasoning (or: design thinking)
Based on: Dorst, K (2011) “The core of ‘design thinking’ and its application,”
Design Studies 32(6), 521–532. doi:10.1016/j.destud.2011.07.006

14. Reasoning Patterns in Problem Solving
??? ??? ???+ leads to
(thing) (working principle) (aspired)
Design reasoning (or: design thinking)
Based on: Dorst, K (2011) “The core of ‘design thinking’ and its application,”
Design Studies 32(6), 521–532. doi:10.1016/j.destud.2011.07.006

15. Wicked Problems

22. Thematic Research

23. Thematic Research
• identify themes
• investigate themes
• find inspiration for new frames
individual
group
individual
group
immerse in themes
discuss themes
reflect on themes
visualise themes
•
•
•
•

24. Investigate Themes
• In situ research
perspective of stakeholders
• Personal experiences
perspective of the researcher
• Science & Philosophy
facts and meaning
• Art & culture
representation and expression
Focus on the
bigger issues
Research them from
various angles
Get to the essence
Relate to humanity &
human experiences
Research Perspectives

25. Accountability
in public
governance
Mariahoeve
The Hague
Case

26. Diversity
Development
Social challenges
Integral approach

27. The integral approach to neighbourhood improvement
combines budgets from multiple departments.
This makes it more efficient – but also harder to account for.
How can we change the way this
integral approach is accounted for?

29. Thematic Research:
What is courage really?

30. Trust plays a central role

31. Defining Themes
• Structure (what is it about?)
• Responses (how do people react to it?)
• Context (what is going on around it?)
• Dynamics (how does it work?)

32. Moving towards frames

35. Accountability reframed
• First values, then sharing
Both parties involved in accountability need
to first acknowledge and share each other’s
values, before goals, approaches, and
results can be shared meaningfully.
• Professional improvisation
Professional activities do not need to be routine or fully
planned in advance. It is important to recognise the
value of improvisation and experimentation, to
consider activities as such, and to trust the
professional to do it the best possible way.

36. Accountability reframed
• Illustrate vs. participate
Two ways of sharing results: by communicating step
by step how results were obtained; or by inviting
participation in the actual process.
• Professional friendship
Nurture informal relationships between professionals,
across hierarchies, cultivating trust on higher levels.

37. Lessons learned
• Make a team of stakeholders and design thinkers
• Initiate the team - explain the importance of stepping out of the
problem area
• Investigate themes from various perspectives - also use various methods
• It’s okay to cherish your own, personal experiences, but don’t let them
dominate - always mix with other sources
• Alternate research with team dialogues
• Take sufficient time for team dialogues - present research outcomes,
discuss the meaning of themes and individual interpretations
• Never forget: we are looking for inspiration, not the truth!
Please read the paper for details… p. 352

38. Current work
• Gaining experiences with teaching the method to
students in various programmes
• Thematic research checklist - a practical tool for
education
• How to choose research methods, match them with
what we want to learn about a theme?

39. Thank you.
Questions?