Design research vs. public opinion research
CDS’ design research is different than traditional government public opinion research.
Our design research has a:
- Different purpose: Our design research focuses on understanding people’s goals, behaviors and obstacles. It doesn’t focus on overall opinions of the government or its services. It examines how people use services, and to what end.
- Different questions: Our design research doesn’t ask people what how they view a service. It focuses on identifying what they need from a service based on their goals and behaviors.
- Different frequency: Our design research happens repeatedly throughout the design of a service. We conduct a little design research, often.
Design research can complement traditional public opinion research:
- Design research studies how people actually use (or would use) a service, not just their opinions of it. It can help surface the details of how to make a service better based on the obstacles people face.
- Design research minimizes risk throughout project development. Design research happens a little and often throughout the services life.
- Last updated by Colin on June 6, 2019