The big idea: The guide names seven primary methods here: user observations, interviews, surveys, questionnaires, focus groups, material testing and product analysis.
The last two are the ones students forget, and they are the two that produce numbers.
The five people-based methods with the blind spot of each, and the four rungs that turn what you recorded into a need.
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| Method | On the ward project, it would tell you… |
|---|---|
| User observation | That patients twist sideways to reach the jug, and nurses move the table with a foot |
| Interviews | That patients will not press the call button for a drink because they feel it is not important enough |
| Surveys and questionnaires | How many of 80 patients could not reach something they needed in the last 24 hours |
| Focus groups | That nurses and cleaners want opposite things from the base of the table |
| Material testing | Which surface survives 200 wipes with ward disinfectant without clouding |
| Product analysis | How the current table fails: where it is gripped, what its wheels do on a threshold |
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The three most often done badly
Questionnaires: ask about behaviour, not opinion
"How many times yesterday did you need something out of reach?" is answerable. "Do you like the table?" is not, and every answer supports carrying on as before.
Surveys: fix the population before you send it
Eighty patients on three wards is a sample. Eighty responses from whoever replied is a self-selected group of the people who felt strongly.
Material testing: test the condition, not the material
"Is this laminate durable?" has no answer. "Does it cloud after 200 wipes with this disinfectant?" does, and you can run it in an afternoon.
Product analysis: analyse, do not describe
Take the existing table apart on paper — function, performance, features — and come out with something that changes the next decision.
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The statement is specific about the outputs: primary data is analysed to establish user requirements and design specifications, to develop a persona, and to suggest further developments of a solution. Those four are what the research is FOR.
| From this data… | …comes this output |
|---|---|
| Repeated behaviours seen in observation | The persona's behaviour field, and a pain point on the journey |
| Reasons given in interviews | The user requirement, stated as an outcome the solution must deliver |
| Counts from a questionnaire | The evidence that a requirement is common enough to be essential |
| Numbers from material testing | A measurable specification criterion, with the test already written |
| Feedback on a prototype | The next development — which is why research continues to the end |
Ethics is not optional: On a ward you would need permission, and patients would have to agree knowing what the data is for and that they can stop.
Never record anybody who has not agreed, never publish a face or a name, and store what you collect so that it cannot identify a person.
How this is tested — choosing and applying primary methods, and saying what the data will be used for. It comes up two ways:
Paper 1 — multiple choice
- Identify the primary method that suits a stated need.
- Pick the output a stated piece of primary data supports.
Paper 2 — analysing a product
- Apply primary research methods to a named product and justify each.
- Explain how primary data becomes a specification criterion.
The trap: Forgetting that material testing and product analysis are primary research. They are the two methods that produce numbers you can put straight into a specification.
Apply three primary research methods to the redesign of a hospital bedside table, saying what each would collect and what it would be used for.
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