Design Research Methodology: Research Proposal

DESIGN RESEARCH METHODOLOGY - PROPOSAL

30/08/19 - 20/09/19 (Week 1 - Week 4)

Sia Man Sheng (0333877)

Design Research Methodology 

Proposal

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LECTURE NOTES

Week 1 

30/08/19

In the first class, we got a lecture on what research is all about. From the lecture slides, I understood that research is the investigation and study of materials to establish facts and reach new conclusions. Research should also be done to enhance our understanding and knowledge. 

Figure 1 PDF of Week 1's Lecture Notes

Week 2

06/09/19

This week, we learned about problem statement, research objective, research question as well as hypothesis and variables, which will be part of our proposal that we're currently doing.

• Problem Statement: A detailed description of an issue and allows reader to further understand on the research problem. It can be split into three paragraphs: the ideal, the reality and the consequences.
• Research Objective: What I aim to achieve by a project (example: to describe, investigate..)
• Problem Question: An answerable inquiry related to the research objective.
• Hypothesis: A tentative statement on the relationship between variables.

Figure 2 PDF of Week 2's Lecture Notes

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INSTRUCTIONS

Figure 3 PDF of MIB

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Week 1

30/08/19

This week, Ms Jinchi introduced us to this module by going over the MIB. She took us through the things well be doing throughout the semester, which was to think of any topic related to design, come up with a research topic, research problem, research question, conduct secondary research and more. She also brief us on what is needed to be done before the next class. We were required to start on our first project, which was the proposal. By next class, we had to confirm our field of interest (research topic), establish an area we wish to address/solve (research problem) and briefly explain why we chose it. 

Initial idea of my research theme and research topic:

Topic: Visual Communication

Problem: The effectiveness of Presentation slide in delivering message and information

Modified idea of my research topic and research topic:

Topic: Visual Communication and Web Page Design

Problem: The influences of web page design on creating a certain atmosphere in regards of graphic elements.


Feedback: After discussion with Ms. Jinchi, Ms. Jinchi told me that if I still continue to work on the process of conceptualization, it is going to ba a manual that everyone could be learnt during internship. Hence, she advice me to try looking at aspect that can be argue or can be discuss with. I decided to focus on the influences of graphical elements later on and could stated clearly which genres of design to be focus on. I have selected web page design to research on.

With the feedback given by Ms Jinchi and Dr Noorhayati, I needed to make further adjustments.

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Week 2

06/09/19
For this week, after the lecture about the topic problem statement. We are to develop our problem statement base on our topic. But I have not finalized with my topic yet. Hence, I am still reading on articles to find out a suitable research topic that work for me.

Finalized idea of my research topic and research topic:

Topic: Visual Communication and Webpage Design

Research Problem: Effectiveness of graphical elements in conveying the underlying concept of brands found online 


Feedback: Some grammar mistakes and inappropriate use of headings need to be corrected. Ms. Jinchi suggests me to narrow down my research problem to focus on conveying brand message and better to choose 2 or maximum 3 brands' online website as my study target. The reason to have few websites is because comparison or different aspect of design approaches could be exposed to me. It might need to be very deep research if only studying one brands as research target. "Please always justify the reasons before choosing the research target. It has to be strong". 

Besides, Ms. Jinchi did suggest me directions to research on: 

• Does graphical elements need to be designed internationally or depends on local culture? 
• Will it confusing people of different culture or might be too common for everyone?

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Week 3

13/09/19

This week has no class due to cancellation of class.

Next task is to update our research problem after finalized the topic through receiving the feedbacks, and add on for the problem statement, research question and research objective. At the end of the day, these are the elements that are included for our proposal, which is our first project of this module.

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Week 4

20/09/19 

Submission: Before submitting the final version of proposal, I got to have a one-to-one consultation with Ms Jinchi. After receiving feedback, I am to modify my proposal and submit it through google classroom.

Figure 3 PDF of the final proposal

Feedback: Please add on Design Principle as my theme. When stated "according to Kramer", then there is no necessary for writing his name in the in-text citation. If I have two research objective, then should come out with two research question that reflects them as well. Overall is good, well prepared, sufficient content and reference but I have to improve on my grammar as there is too much grammar mistake.

Feedback received after submission:
• Research Theme: Matches research problem
• Research Topic: Related
• Research Problem: Clear
• Problem Statement: Second paragraph – articulate the problem by providing existing examples. Third paragraph – briefly explain about the brands Starbucks, HaiDiLao and Simply Chocolate and justify why you chose them. Think about the target audience.
• Citations: Accurate.
• Research Objectives, Research Questions: Relevant to the research problem and matching to each other.
• References: More research articles required.