How do you encourage curiosity in commercial design research?

1 Ask open-ended questions

One of the simplest ways to encourage curiosity in commercial design research is to ask open-ended questions that invite exploration and discovery. Open-ended questions are those that cannot be answered with a yes or no, or with a single word or fact. They require more elaboration, explanation, and reflection from your respondents. For example, instead of asking "Do you like this product?", you could ask "How do you use this product in your daily life?" or "What are some of the challenges or frustrations you face with this product?". Open-ended questions help you uncover deeper insights, motivations, and emotions that can inform your design decisions.

2 Use curiosity prompts

Another way to stimulate curiosity in commercial design research is to use curiosity prompts that challenge you to look at things from different perspectives and generate new ideas. Curiosity prompts are questions or statements that spark your curiosity and make you wonder about something. For example, you could use curiosity prompts like "What if...", "How might we...", "I wonder what...", or "What's surprising about...". Curiosity prompts help you expand your thinking, generate hypotheses, and test assumptions. You can use them before, during, or after your research activities to inspire curiosity and creativity.

3 Embrace uncertainty

A third way to cultivate curiosity in commercial design research is to embrace uncertainty and ambiguity as opportunities for learning and innovation. Uncertainty is inevitable in commercial design research, as you are dealing with complex and dynamic problems that have no clear or definitive answers. Instead of avoiding or fearing uncertainty, you can embrace it as a source of curiosity and motivation. You can do this by adopting a growth mindset, which is the belief that you can learn and improve through effort and feedback. You can also do this by using iterative and agile methods, which allow you to test and refine your ideas quickly and learn from your failures.

4 Seek feedback

A fourth way to foster curiosity in commercial design research is to seek feedback from diverse sources and perspectives. Feedback is essential for learning and improving your commercial design research skills and outcomes. It helps you validate your assumptions, identify gaps and opportunities, and refine your solutions. However, feedback can also trigger your curiosity and inspire you to explore new directions and possibilities. You can do this by seeking feedback from different stakeholders, such as your users, clients, colleagues, experts, or mentors. You can also do this by asking for constructive and specific feedback, such as what works well, what can be improved, and why.

5 Keep a curiosity journal

A fifth way to nurture curiosity in commercial design research is to keep a curiosity journal where you record your observations, questions, insights, and ideas. A curiosity journal is a tool that helps you document and reflect on your commercial design research process and practice. It helps you capture your curiosity moments, such as when you notice something interesting, surprising, or unexpected, or when you wonder about something. It also helps you track your learning and progress, as well as your challenges and opportunities. You can use your curiosity journal as a personal or collaborative resource to review and share your commercial design research findings and outcomes.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?