How to … Craft a research question
Research isn’t brainstorming. It’s looking for understanding, insights, and answers. When you do it to create or design a product, your goal is to build the understanding needed to craft a product that solves a real problem well.
Start with the Problem Statement
(which is the basis for good ideation and design)
Problem Statement: “As a __[concrete, empathetic description of person]___, I am trying to __[achieve a goal I care about]__, but it’s hard to ___[complete a key task]___ because __[of this root cause]__, which makes me feel ___[emotional impact]___”
As a community manager in a large and complex DAO, I am trying to keep our whole community happy and engaged, but it’s hard to help members find what they need, because the information is scattered all over our channels, which makes me feel stupid about our own information.
As a team member in a large and complex DAO…
Each element of the problem statement implies different research questions:
Problem Statement:
“As a __[concrete, empathetic description of person]___,
- Who are the people who deal with this problem?
- Who are the different groups at play in this system?
- How are they different from the rest of us?
- Who does the work, and who really cares?
I am trying to __[achieve a goal I care about]__,
- What are the guiding aspirations that people in this system care about?
- Why do people do this thing? How do they hope to make their world better?
- How do people measure success?
but it’s hard to ___[complete a key task]___
- What are the key tasks that people have to do in working towards this goal?
- Which tasks are the worst, hardest, and most likely to fail?
because __[of this root cause]__,
- [This isn’t just a research question - root cause analysis takes a lot of creativity and logic]
- If other players in the system are involved in this failed task, what factors are driving their actions?
which makes me feel ___[emotional impact]___”
- What are the emotions involved in this goal, and in the tasks?
- What does the emotional journey look like?
- When the person is stuck or failing, what do they feel like?
- What will success feel like?
Features of bad research questions
too vague
“do users want” - testing a solution
“How might we” - that’s not research, that’s brainstorming
Features of good research questions