Care as a Method in Design Research

Psychological anthropologists have investigated varieties of “care” as an idea, activity, and moral imperative. But how have designers regarded care? Here, I put forward the idea of care as a method for design research. What does it mean to actively practice care?

The following are principles of care that designers can actively use, as a core value of our work.

Care for Users

As the “voice” of our users, we care about them and for them. We say this almost instinctually—of course we care about our users! But what does that mean in practice?

Privacy and Confidentiality

It means following high standards to protect users’ privacy and confidentiality, as defined by IRB guidelines. Even if one isn’t involved in sensitive research (such as health related), it’s still important to follow these guidelines. As the IRB says, privacy relates to people and confidentiality relates to data. Privacy means that we won’t share the identity of the user beyond what is absolutely necessary. Confidentiality means that we will control what they share so that it is used in context and as intended. Both privacy and confidentiality are also ongoing, so if we decide to use their identity or data in a context other than that we initially proposed, we must return to them for their consent.

Empathy

Being the voice of the user means being the buffer between them and the client, and thus creating the space for users to be able to most comfortably share their opinions, experiences, and behaviors with us. This can be a very vulnerable situation for users to be in, especially when researchers work in pairs or teams, because the single user is automatically outnumbered. I recommend acknowledging this, and taking the time periodically during an interaction to ensure the user’s comfort.

Practicing care in an interaction with a user also affects how we act and present ourselves during an interaction. Mirror yourself to your user, try to limit interruptions as possible, and let them know that you heard them. On remote interviews, I am well-known for having a very expressive face, which is 85% intentional. Keep culturally-appropriate eye contact (80/20 rule in mainstream US culture).

Empathy doesn’t end with an interaction. After we have collected our data, we still empathize with our users by reflecting their data in context and good faith. This means keeping the whole person in account as we share their data in reports and presentations. Personas and Journey Maps can help with this, if done well.

Side Note: Language

Even though I’m using it here as an accepted industry term, even the word “user” seems off to me, because the people whose interactions, opinions, etc. that we study are more than just their use of a product or service. However, I still don’t have an answer as to what can be used instead. Audience? Subjects? Informants? Let me know what has worked for you.

Care for Clients

No matter what we feel about the clients and the project itself, we must do our best to empathize with clients as we do with users. They are also whole people with their own backstories, areas of expertise, and motivation related to the project at hand. Caring for them means caring about their hopes and goals for the project. It does not mean only telling them what they want to hear—we owe our clients a representative picture of our findings in order to best help their achieve their business goals.

Care for Fellow Team Members

The work of Design Research often comes before other team activities, and informs their approach and priorities. Caring for our collaborators means understanding where they are coming from and what they need from us. What kind of information do they expect us to deliver, and in what format? Though we should share our methods and points of view, we cannot expect others to change how they approach their own work in order to best accommodate us. Teams should design their work in service of the final product, not the other way around.

Care about our Work

Speaking of the final product, we care about our work by taking pride in it, and doing our best to ensure high quality insights, designs, and products. We use the best methods for the specific project, without cutting corners. Of course, every project will have sacrifices (often budget- and timeline-related), but these can be navigated strategically in order to ensure we provide the best results in any scenario.

We should also care about the delivery and distribution of our work. We should showcase what we are proud of (while of course maintaining privacy and confidentiality of users and clients!) and maintain at least partial control over where documentation (and rough data) lives after a project ends.

When we care about our work, it shows. Being passionate about our work and taking it seriously is also a way to care for our clients and team members.

Care for Ourselves

While we care for others and our work, we cannot forget to care for ourselves! We cannot work at peak performance without taking care of our physical and mental health. Do what you need to do for yourself, and don’t apologize for it.