Framing Your Study
About This Course
Prerequisites
- Course – Listening Deeply
- Course – Thinking Styles
- Understanding that concepts at depth represent cognitive empathy (inner thinking, emotional reactions, guiding principles)
- A study (old or new) that you would like to frame/reframe
- A good handle on your product strategy
Recommended Knowledge
- Articles about Problem Space vs. Solution Space
- Book – Mixed Methods by Sam Ladner (the first third/introduction)
- Book – Future Ethics by Cennydd Bowles
- Chapter 1 in Time to Listen
- Watch one of Indi’s latest recorded talks
- Listen to one of Indi’s recent guest appearances on podcasts
Summary
A research study requires careful choices. This course will help you decide what knowledge your organization needs, the purpose your users have, and the framework for a study. You will bring your knowledge from the other courses in the series to this capstone course, so that together we can set up and pursue your own study.
Yes, framing your study comes first. But in terms of learning how to do this, you need a deeper understanding of the components of this method. So it’s best if you take Listening Deeply and Thinking Styles (or Mental Model Diagrams as Opportunity Maps) first. Check the learning paths chart.
Whether it’s your first research study or your umpteenth, you can always use help clarifying what knowledge goals to aim for.
This course will lead you through the development of your own project framing. The live class sessions will include discussion and exercises meant to help you step through all the decisions. You’ll learn about how many participants to recruit to make sure patterns emerge in qualitative data. We’ll cover thinking styles as audience segmentation, and how you can start with hypothetical thinking styles if your organization doesn’t have them yet. Finding participants for your study is fraught with false leads, so we’ll outline some stronger methods for finding people who truly have a lot of experience with your scope, and who will perform well in a listening session.
When it comes to clarification, your stakeholders can probably use a better grasp on the uses of qualitative and problem space research.
You’ll also learn to show your stakeholders how your study will ultimately guide your product & service strategy. The homework between classes requires that you collaborate with your stakeholders to get the input you need to support them more deeply … because so many stakeholders don’t know how to ask for the knowledge they truly need. This course will help you speak more clearly to your stakeholders about what kind of research you can produce what kind of knowledge will come out of it.
You will learn how to:
- check your philosophy: constructivist, positivist
- clarify your framework: inductive, deductive, abductive
- choose your scope by getting outside the box of your organization
- narrow your scope by choosing a purpose containing rich thought
- find or hypothesize the thinking styles that are a priority
- gather candidates from stronger sources
- filter candidates through spoken screeners
Course Features (for new format in bundle):
- Videos that don’t require you to look at the screen
- Exercises with answer sheets
- Downloadable diagrams
- Closed captions for each video, along with descriptive transcripts
- Accessible PDFs
- Downloadable transcripts
- Add on Live Group Meetings to do the exercises with Indi
- Live Group Meetings count toward Certification in Problem Space Research
- Membership in Indi’s Slack workspace (no time limit)
Testimonials
The greatest qualities we bring to our work are radiantly on display in Indi. It lets others feel safe to exude their own passion. I’ve seen humility & infinite curiosity to understand the people with purpose. There’s hope for the future.
I’ve encouraged many to take these courses.— Jennifer Strickland, 1-Nov-2019
If you’re struggling in your research scoping and recruitment, this is the course for you. Indi doesn’t make your recruitment magically easier, but she helps you understand what’s important to prioritise to minimise the challenges.
— Pei Ling Chin, 4-Nov-2019
It covers fundamentally important things: what is solid screening strategy and why this type of research is important! It is full of spot-on tips and advice. I do user research daily and I was able to enrich my practice since class one!
— Olena Bulygina, 6-Nov-2019
I tell people about the course when I think what they’re doing would benefit from understanding the problem more.
— Anita Shervington, 8-Oct-2020
Framing Your Study is a brilliant course! Are you struggling to define the right scope for your study and how to get the right people? The class is very hands-on—you have the chance to practice on your own project and get Indi’s feedback.
— Sonja, 24-Oct-2019
If you want to learn how to do the user research the right way from an incredible person, who will also have a huge impact on your life in general, then don’t ask “why,” just sign up!
— Gosia, 2-Nov-2019
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: If I have questions about the course content, will Indi answer them for me?
A: Asking a question in the Slack community will give Indi, her team, and many other Slack members a chance to see the question and respond to it.
Q: Do the recordings qualify me for Indi’s Problem Space Certification Program?
A: Not quite. You will also want to join the Live Practice series for each course. In these Live Practice meetings, you get to work on exercises together with Indi and others. This is where we discuss nuances of context and share experiences that help others prepare to conduct their own research. Live Practice meetings give you a chance to double your knowledge and demonstrate your understanding.
Other Languages
Take this course in Chinese through UXOffer:
