PROJECT DEADLINE
The Project is divided into five phases, and each of them will be developed through a specific research methodology.
- PHASE I. (In situ) DESIGN ETHNOGRAPHY: (FEBRUARY 2013 and OCTOBER 2013) Identification of participant communities. Ethnographic study (Action phase)
- PHASE II. DESIGN RESEARCH: (MARCH -OCTOBER 2013) Development of the methodology in embryonic workshops. (Documentation phase).
- PHASE III. (In situ) PROTOTYPING: (JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2014) Implementation of workshops in selected locations (Action phase)
- PHASE IV. (in situ) (SPRING 2014) DATES TBD: Implementation of workshops for development of a family of products (Action phase)
- PHASE V. (SEE TIMELINE): Project dissemination
RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES:
The research to be done will be based in existing methodologies applied from a design perspective:
EXPLORATORY RESEARCH
In the exploratory research the activities are focused in achieving a solid base of the design knowledge and the production of artifacts. It must be an immersion experience for the designer, inspiring the creative drive and the empathy through an intense exposure to the people and products related to the research. (Martin & Hanington, 2012)
This kind of research will be used mainly in Phase I for the ethnographic study and in Phases III and IV in which the facilitators share with the artisans the artifacts creation process, inside the very community. This allows the integration in the artisan´s social and cultural context and, thus, the understanding through their own experience of the reasons for the form, the material, the function, and the links of the artifact to the community.
PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH (PAR)
It is defined by the cooperative relationship between the researchers and the people being researched, and it is a cyclic process and a collaborative work, one that seeks to intentionally enhance the community or other aspects which are the object of the research. (Martin & Hanington, 2012)
The PAR methodology will be applied in Phases III Design Research and IV Prototyping.
In the proposed case study the changes affect mainly the different communities that participate and are involved in the project. The results of the changes should affect both the design and artisan creation process of a new family of products, and also the community participation in the creation of a structure for its development and commercialization. Using the virtual platform expands the participation, the process is kept alive from the net and generating changes and opportunities which can be proposed at the local level, but can achieve a global reach.
ARTIFACT ANALYSIS:
The use of the very artifact as an articulatory element of the dialogue between artisan and facilitator allows for the inclusion of information for the research that would otherwise be very difficult to transmit without it.
“A systematic examination of the material, aesthetic, an interactive qualities of objects contributes to an understanding of their physical, social and cultural contexts”.(Martin & Hanington, 2012)
“Cultural Artifacts are designed to be creative and inspirational. They consist in the appropriation of artifacts relevant to a group or culture and their deconstruction by a designer with the intention of discovering information traditionally overlooked by other research methods”.(Ornelas & Gregory, 2011)
During phase II, Design Research and phase III, Prototyping, the cultural artifacts and the prototypes will serve as research and evaluation channels, and will allow the communication between the cultural and traditional aspect and the part relating to the design of the new family of products.
PROTOTYPING:
The materialization of a product, both from its formal realization point of view as from the functional one, is a form of material research. It allows checking whether its production process, the materials used, the way it works, its aesthetic, and its final effect agree with the proposed initial conditions for its execution. The analysis allows for the evolution towards a model which every time is closer to the final result. (Martin & Hanington, 2012)
This research methodology will be used during phase III of the process. That is the moment when the facilitators will outline creation guidelines for the product families do be developed. Having an artifact in a development process allows for the continuation of the initial proposed research from the original artifact.
EXPLORATORY RESEARCH
In the exploratory research the activities are focused in achieving a solid base of the design knowledge and the production of artifacts. It must be an immersion experience for the designer, inspiring the creative drive and the empathy through an intense exposure to the people and products related to the research. (Martin & Hanington, 2012)
This kind of research will be used mainly in Phase I for the ethnographic study and in Phases III and IV in which the facilitators share with the artisans the artifacts creation process, inside the very community. This allows the integration in the artisan´s social and cultural context and, thus, the understanding through their own experience of the reasons for the form, the material, the function, and the links of the artifact to the community.
PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH (PAR)
It is defined by the cooperative relationship between the researchers and the people being researched, and it is a cyclic process and a collaborative work, one that seeks to intentionally enhance the community or other aspects which are the object of the research. (Martin & Hanington, 2012)
The PAR methodology will be applied in Phases III Design Research and IV Prototyping.
In the proposed case study the changes affect mainly the different communities that participate and are involved in the project. The results of the changes should affect both the design and artisan creation process of a new family of products, and also the community participation in the creation of a structure for its development and commercialization. Using the virtual platform expands the participation, the process is kept alive from the net and generating changes and opportunities which can be proposed at the local level, but can achieve a global reach.
ARTIFACT ANALYSIS:
The use of the very artifact as an articulatory element of the dialogue between artisan and facilitator allows for the inclusion of information for the research that would otherwise be very difficult to transmit without it.
“A systematic examination of the material, aesthetic, an interactive qualities of objects contributes to an understanding of their physical, social and cultural contexts”.(Martin & Hanington, 2012)
“Cultural Artifacts are designed to be creative and inspirational. They consist in the appropriation of artifacts relevant to a group or culture and their deconstruction by a designer with the intention of discovering information traditionally overlooked by other research methods”.(Ornelas & Gregory, 2011)
During phase II, Design Research and phase III, Prototyping, the cultural artifacts and the prototypes will serve as research and evaluation channels, and will allow the communication between the cultural and traditional aspect and the part relating to the design of the new family of products.
PROTOTYPING:
The materialization of a product, both from its formal realization point of view as from the functional one, is a form of material research. It allows checking whether its production process, the materials used, the way it works, its aesthetic, and its final effect agree with the proposed initial conditions for its execution. The analysis allows for the evolution towards a model which every time is closer to the final result. (Martin & Hanington, 2012)
This research methodology will be used during phase III of the process. That is the moment when the facilitators will outline creation guidelines for the product families do be developed. Having an artifact in a development process allows for the continuation of the initial proposed research from the original artifact.