July 5, 2018 New Book on Info Design + Research!
While we spend most of our time immersed in client work, we are also committed to sharing knowledge in our areas of expertise. Workshops and conference papers afford us different ways of doing that, if only in small glimpses. Some topics require more depth and detail to do them justice.
Sheila realized that there was a big gap in the literature about using qualitative research in design practice, and even more in the field of information design. Simultaneously, as an information designer, she has always wanted to translate research methods, learnings and experience into a more accessible format.
Over the past year, she has been working on a first-of-its-kind project: to create a practical guide for information designers that speaks their language and demystifies how to conduct a field research study.
At long last, we are happy to announce that the book, Making Sense of Field Research: A Practical Guide for Information Designers, is in production and already available for pre-order from Routledge, Amazon UK, and Amazon US. The official release date is July 24, 2018.
The book includes over 80 figures, consisting of photos, tables, and more than 40 explanatory illustrations specifically created to communicate key processes, concepts and steps. In addition to step-by-step instructions for the most common field research methods, visual summaries appear throughout to enable quick reference. Five real-world case studies bring the principles and methods of field research to life.
By integrating relatively uncommon approaches with the information design process, this book presents field research in a new light, and emphasizes three points:
- Field research is valuable in all kinds of information design work — from data visualization to wayfinding.
- You don’t need a big budget or long timeframes to gather valuable insights.
- Professional research expertise isn’t necessary to go into the field and to do it effectively.
We’ll be sharing snippets from the book. In the meantime, reach out if you would like to know more!