The Achievement of Using Research Results from Mixed Methods in Design Workshop within Educational Scenario

Abstract: We often combine several methods and tools when running a design workshop, e.g., brainstorming and affinity diagram. Suppose participants have many divergent ideas without fully understanding the design subject matter's users, behaviors, and scenes, although many ideas can be collected. In that case, the result is often difficult to focus on the problem they originally intended to solve. Therefore, this research wants to know whether the innovative ideas of participants are restricted by providing the same background material. And how to use different design thinking tools in combination to improve the effectiveness of the workshop. The design subject of this workshop is a recycling vehicle currently operated and managed by the government. The design goal is to design additional modules that can be used flexibly in the existing recycling vehicles to improve waste separation and recycling efficiency.Before implementing the design workshop, we collected many objective facts and subjective opinions through qualitative and quantitative investigation methods such as field observation, questionnaire survey, interview, and symposium. We visualized the survey results (photos, behavioral mapping, statistic chart, etc.) to form the materials for the design workshop. The workshop ran for eight hours in one day, and a total of 10 industrial design master class students were divided into two groups. Four stages guided the two workshop hosts in sequence: the KJ method, empathy map, user journey, and design sketch. There are four stages to guide the process. During the period, the two groups each reported an affinity diagram, two user journeys (one for cleaning staff and one for a citizen), and four empathy maps. Finally, a professor from the Industrial Design Institute will comment on the sketch.As a result, participants created ten sets of sketches focusing on problem-solving but with different innovative ideas. Participants also learned various design thinking tools in a short period. Using the mixed method research results as materials and combining different method tools to guide the process of the workshop will ultimately help the design workshop produce specific achievements.

Keywords: Evidence-based design, Design workshop, Empathy map, User journey, KJ method, Recycling vehicle

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1002013

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