Design Research is the basis of making products, services, and systems that are suitable for the requirements of humans. For a better way of living, catering to human needs is considered to be of utmost importance in various sectors. Design research is mostly overlooked by many despite its use and advantages. The definition, purpose, and role of design research have not been understood and accepted by many. However, many organizations opt for design research in order to collect important information about the users. The information gathered is good but not much applied in its actual sense.
For example, we all are fond of using mobile phones. Some like the basic ones while some like the smartphones. Now, why do you think that a particular smartphone or mobile phone becomes a huge hit in the market whereas, others just get displayed on the shops or online websites? One of the reasons is the kind of market research and design research that the particular company has done to get accepted wholeheartedly by the market. There is a team who works on the design research such as it makes a case study to understand the user preferences, interactions, environment, and how does the product cater to the emotional, cultural, aesthetic, political, social, economic aspects of the users. This helps the company get its product widely used by the people.
In design research, the methods and information collected are varied as compared to market or academic research. Ethnographic approaches to participant interaction help to cater to difficult human needs, behavioral patterns, and thought processes. Field study is undertaken to understand how the actual work of the product or service happens. Empathy is the main processing tool in design research and it helps practitioners to come up with sound solutions that meet the required needs.