Design research is a process of showcasing the form and function of a complex idea and organizing it to find clarity. To successfully carry out this process, many designers use an ideology stemming from the 1950s called design thinking, which attempts to scientize design and has been used to tackle problems ever since.
When undergoing the design thinking process, there are many elements to consider to achieve successful execution. To analyze and make sense of the data collected, designers use a tactful strategy called synthesis to organize their thoughts and insights.
What is Synthesis?
Synthesis organizes, manipulates, cuts, and filters through data and statistics, generating a cohesive structure on which to build information and analyze findings. However, synthesis is not as concrete as it may seem, as it is more of a cognitive and subjective process. Designers often go through four paths when synthesizing: data, information, knowledge, wisdom. Using this method allows the designer to 1) understand the data, 2) experience elements of the information, and 3) take a deeper look and empathize with the concept. Therefore, synthesis is crucial in the design process because it sets up the architecture for an effective solution. Additionally, it helps connect outside data to the personalized connections created through analysis.
Sensemaking
Hoffman, Klein, and Moon define sensemaking as “a motivated, continuous effort to understand connections, which can be among people, places, and events, to anticipate their trajectories and act effectively.” This concept builds upon the focus of synthesis and dives into the action-oriented process that individuals innately go through in order to integrate experiences into their understanding of the world around them.
When there is chaos, the human instinct is to make sense of the situation. This is where synthesis becomes a very important asset in the design thinking process. Sensemaking, or piecing together a puzzle of information, essentially develops an idea. The purpose of sensemaking is twofold: it allows synthesis to be more detailed and organized as you form relationships between data and ideas, and it allows you to better understand your own train of thought. Breaking down the synthesis stage into a few easy, practical steps streamlines the process of ideation, the creation of a legitimate design, and the testing of prototypes.
Additionally, designers undergo a user research phase where they will collect hundreds if not thousands of verbal transcripts, pictures, and artifacts in order to “make sense” of the problem at hand. Comprehension of data is extremely important to the designer to identify and forge connections as data will frequently turn into a hodgepodge of various thoughts that, at the moment, do not have a straightforward relationship and coherence. Therefore, designers will spend hours making sense of their onsite research, and make “real” and “whole,” what once was chaos.
Steps of Synthesis
To fully understand and execute the synthesis process and truly make sense of data, it is essential to learn and master the steps behind it, providing a better grasp of your research from multiple perspectives. Synthesis cultivates three key ideas when progressing through each stage: prioritization, perception, and forging connections. The next few paragraphs will walk you through synthesis and enhance your design process, creating the perfect environment for creativity and innovation.
Understanding the Data
In order to take a large quantity of data and condense it into a simple design problem, designers often externalize their data through spatialization. Spatialization is the process of clustering substantial amounts of information. By externalizing the data, the chaos is reduced into information that the designer can use to make explicit and implicit relationships.
Explicit: What was clearly stated by those surveyed
Implicit: What the designer implies about those surveyed
The most common tools used for spatialization consist of a large wall, a marker, and many sticky notes.
Spacialization Materials, Image@ITD101Gray
By spreading out their thoughts physically, designers can internalize the data through external actions. Combining the physical action of writing on a sticky note with the mental process of thinking about the data causes the designer to subconsciously evaluate and order the information. Scientific research has proven that writing thoughts down creates tangible pieces of knowledge that make contextualizing easier. Therefore, writing data onto sticky notes groups the data and allows for inferences.
For the purpose of this exercise, we will take a study done at The University of Texas at Austin’s Integrated Design introduction course as an example. The purpose of the project was to improve the user experience on a public bus. Every project will have a rife number of sticky notes, but in order to make this information effective and valuable, it is important to include every single observation and data point. Below are a few examples of what these initial thoughts may look like:
“Mornings: people pretend to sleep, don’t want to socialize”
“Afternoons: people are actually asleep, exhausted and want personal space”
“People got rattled when strangers approach/ talk to you”
“People sit in the priority seating w/o needing it or reading the sign”
Product Designer’s Affinity Diagram, Image@Yukti
After posting the sticky notes onto a wall, the next step is to make sense of the scattered information. Designers begin to physically move the sticky notes and place them in groups of commonality. These groups, called clusters, are organized around a set of themes. Being able to rearrange and find multi-faceted connections allows for a deeper understanding of the problem. Connections create order, allowing the designer to get a complete idea of the data on the board. Discovering links within the data places the designer in the shoes of the user, and lets the designer draw conclusions to use in ideation.
Experience Elements of the Information
Although collecting and organizing information can give the designer better ideas about the aforementioned relationships, the true process of synthesis doesn’t begin until links between data are created. The designer must take his/her research and develop a set of point of view statements to convert research and data into actionable information. Point of view statements are a set of thoughts that describe the target audience, including the person’s decisions, behaviors, and motivations. It is also important to get a deeper understanding by noting down data points or clusters that stood out. Lastly, designers often collect data and research through interviews. It is crucial to consider three to five of the most powerful quotes that were heard and analyze them as well.
Below are examples of point of view statements for the clusters mentioned above:
Cluster 1 (Perceived Safety/Security): “People might feel insecure leaving belongings exposed due to the lack of safety on a bus. Bus riders don’t normally talk on the bus because they are fearful of their surroundings and because of ‘stranger danger.’”
Cluster 2 (Accessibility): “When people do not follow the rules and signs for accommodations made for people with disabilities, it clearly restricts those individuals who truly need access. Some people are not even conscious of the priority seats and are unaware of the guidelines.”
Cluster 3 (Ease of Use): “Because of the unpredictability of bus schedules and bus stops, new users might be intimidated by the system as they are on a tight schedule and there are no rules or guidance through the experience. For students who get a free bus pass through their ID, end up reducing their use of the bus due to the inaccuracy and amount of planning that has to go into the trip, causing lateness for commuters.”
After constructing the point of view statements, the next step is to convert the observations into insightful ideas. It is not important to be right or wrong in this process - it is more useful to consider hunches about the meanings behind clusters. In design thinking, a hunch is what the point of view statement means and why it matters. Similar to how the data was split into themes across clusters, the next step is to take the hunches and sort them into clusters with the category or overarching theme. This allows the designer to see the bigger picture and make problem-solving easier.
Clusters & Hunches, Image @UXDICT.IO
Take a Deeper Look and Empathize with the Concept
Traditional methods of design struggle with chaotic issues. For this reason, designers have adopted the affinity diagram, which pieces together all the sticky notes and observations through natural relationships.
After developing themes through the clusters and relational hunches, a designer must expand his/her themes. A one-word title is not sufficient to produce a viable solution. Therefore, every theme must be converted into three brief insight statements, similar to a news headline, which can include the Who, What, When, Where, Why, or How of the topic. Below are some examples of insight statements from themes used to analyze the user experience on a public bus:
Practicality: “The unpredictability of buses causes a level of unnecessary stress for users and forces them to allow extra time to ride it”
Accessibility: “Having to disclose a disability to a stranger on the bus just to sit down can be uncomfortable”
Safety: “Bus riders’ level of perceived security varies based on the time of day as well as with whether they are alone”
As demonstrated above, insights are specific, one-sentence statements that summarize the problem at hand. Keeping these statements short and to the point helps derive action-oriented thoughts and ideas. By providing a description of the theme, the human-centered point of view is combined with the theme’s broad nature, an essential step that enables the entire design process.
Most importantly, when writing these insightful statements, the designer must be sure to get rid of any biases.
The final step in the synthesis process is the integration of thoughts and insights into cohesive action statements. These “how might we” statements are a call to action, taking the project form the define phase to the ideation phase.
Every problem is an opportunity for design. By framing your challenge as a How Might We question, you’ll set yourself up for an innovative solution. - designkit.org
“How Might We” Modeling, Image@ResearchGate
“How might we …?” is not an arbitrary phrase, but rather a structured question that prompts the designer to stay away from statements like:
“Why don’t we?”
“I think you should…”
“We must…”
How might we questions have three parts: :
How: signifies taking action to implement something
Might: gives room for possibility or change in thought
We: demonstrates a collaborative effort and impact on the public
It is important to keep the phrase’s structure to effectively complete synthesis and smoothly transition into the ideation and action phase.
Below are a few how might we statements that were created based on the prior examples:
“How might we create a better experience for UT students while using the bus system?”
“How might we increase communication between navigation apps and the bus system?”
“How might we support differently-abled people to make their bus rides more convenient and comfortable?”
“How might we improve inner bus signage so that riders know things like where priority seating is?”
“How might we empower students to use the bus system to get to know Austin better and feel more confident in public transportation?”
The Transition
Since the synthesis stage consists purely of analyzing and sensemaking, there is a need to create an end goal from the “how might we” statements and transition into the prototyping phase. As a designer, it is crucial to forge ties between these statements of concern and find avenues for a viable solution. During the transition, the designer must narrow down the “how might we” statements into one “how might we” question that they want to continue with. After undergoing the steps of synthesis, the designer will have a concrete idea of what they have observed and can find a common theme that was seen as the most pressing and accessible issue.
In the Austin Bus System project at UT, students realized that there was a clear issue from their research that was feasible. Accessibility was a theme that stood out because of the first-hand observations and interactions that were made during the user research phase, and it became the focus of the study. Finally, the “how might we” statements created in the previous phases were narrowed down to one statement to be used for the rest of the process.
“How might we educate other riders about priority seating, so that people with disabilities can easily access it?”
Narrowing down the questions to one final statement segues the designer into the prototyping phase with a clear direction on what their design is trying to accomplish.
So, Why Use Synthesis?
Following these steps gives the designer a sense of comfort with their data. For instance, in the first step (understanding the data), a messy, complex problem is distilled to its root issues. The designer can focus on the data that was collected and can feel at ease when exploring the problem’s possible causes.
Since the design thinking process is creative in nature, it takes externally-gathered data and turns it into workable information that can be used to generate ideas. Synthesis develops a framework for the interpretation and modeling of externalities and allows the designer to feel more capable, confident, and reflective of their research. By examining relationships between information, designers are allowed to truly learn and experience the data, improving their intuition of the research, and building expertise to solve design problems more effortlessly and empathetically.
Furthermore, the design of a product is always changing as new realizations come to light and new functionalities are brought to fruition, meaning the framework of how designers go about problem-solving will inevitably change. Taking a deeper look into the problem at hand and understanding the user’s perspective through empathy lets designers put the pieces of the puzzle together. Empathy is crucial here because removing biases and connecting with the end-user can greatly enhance the designer’s problem-solving and prototyping abilities.
Designers tend to make sense of complicated thoughts and ideas physically (hands-on), rather than reflecting upon them from afar. Through synthesis, the designer is able to learn, understand, and react to the needs of the problem, finally making sense of the chaos and coming closer to acting on the problem. In the end, without synthesis, there could be no gallant effort to produce knowledge from information and truly drive innovation.
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