Outline Student Interview Questions

Here is an outline of the questions I used for my student interviews. I did the interviews with out working directly from this list and didn't 'lead' the students as much as some of the clarifiying comments in brackets here might suggest! These comments were more to assist me if the student was having difficulty answering which, thankfully, was not the case .

Questions for student interviews:
How do you approach research for a project - (is it something that you tackle from the outset to help define some parameters for yourself or do you begin it later when you have a clearer idea of your intent or is it something different to those egs altogether?)

Do you approach it in a calm organised way or is you approach more intuitive and hap-hazard?

What is the tempo of your research - time consuming and reflective or bursts of intense searching where much progress is made quickly or something else altogether?

For you what is the main type of research you engage in - (for example might it be... Historical research - looking at existing designs for the area you are investigating e.g. logos for a similar product etc. Or primary research - investigating it yourself through photography, sketching etc)
What are your main researching tools? for example - Internet - which sites or searches ?  Library - books and journals?Visiting sites - eg shop to view brands? Primary research?

How, for you, does the research findings contribute to  your design practice would you say? Could you give a % even for this maybe?

When do you employ research mostly e.g. beginnging of project, middle or end or all through or not at all?

When do you apply the research then to the design?

How do you feel the research maps onto the various stages of the design process for you? (i.e. here how do you apply the research)

Is there a difference in how and when you  approach visual research as opposed to the subject research?

Is there a blurring between researching and designing for you -  are are they 2 separate activities? (Do you research through your design experiments?)

How long for per ‘session’... or does it pour out into conversations with classmates over coffee … or it is something you approach in a structured search kind of way?

How do you record what you find? (do you comment on it or do you expand upon it and detail how it might be synthesised into your design work)?

Do you enjoy the researching part of the process or is it a ‘have to do it’ part of the project because it is marked?

How do you think researching impacts on the amount of learning you do within a project brief?