7.0: Introduction

Welcome to the end of the book. This is a weird sort of chapter, unlike any other chapter in this text. You may well have come here at my insistence from an earlier section, so let me explain how this all works.

In this chapter you’ll find five or so different segments, each focused on giving you a loose understanding of a particular research methodology. In the first draft of this book in particular you’ll find that these are general treatments rather than super-specific ones. The idea behind this design is that you’ll be provided with the fundamental information you’ll need to carry out these research methods within your technical writing classrooms, and that with the help of your instructor you can investigate these further, or you can research them further on your own.

Each one of the methods here could, and does, have entire books dedicated to their practice, so keep that in mind as you read. Additionally, I’m not offering by any means a definitive approach to any of these methods. Instead, I’m attempting to provide you with a general understanding of how you can use them to do original research for your technical writing projects.

In the following sections we’ll cover Interviewing, Talk-Aloud Protocols, Card Sorting, Observation, and Participatory Design. To get a brief window into each, below you’ll find a brief summary of what the method does and why you might use it:

Interviews

Interviewing is about getting information from people by interacting with them. This can be on the phone, online, or face-to-face. The goal here is to talk your way into understanding a situation. Interviews can be useful to get a rich understanding of your audience or a situation, but take planning and direction to succeed.

Talk Aloud Protocols

Talk Aloud Protocols, or TAP are used to get information from a user while they’re using a system. They can be extremely helpful to identify when things break down during use, but they do create some artificial results from time to time. A bit of work is involved, depending on how you document things, but TAP can be essential in figuring out a breakdown in workflows.

Card Sorting

Carding sorting is a powerful method where you use cards to create categories with your users. This sorting can be useful to help you build a system of categories or to test the effectiveness of an existing one.

Observation

Observation is exactly what it sounds like, and differs from TAP in that you aren’t going to necessarily be working with your users or even letting them know what is going on. You’re observing and making notes from your own point of view.

Participatory Design

Unlike the other approaches, participatory design is more of an overall approach rather than a specific method. Participatory design involves getting your users involved in the design process and giving them power and agency. We’ll discuss some basic tips for this.

Going forward, you’ll find each of these approaches has a write-up that will be helpful in guiding your work. You’ll want to decide which one makes the most sense for your situation.