Defining the research objectives

Defining research objectives is an important step in the service design process. It helps teams ensure they are gathering the right information to inform their design decisions. Take those steps to identify effective research objectives:

• Identify the nature of your study. Exploratory research involves learning more about a subject without any prior assumptions, while confirmatory research is about validating specific assumptions. Depending on the nature of your project, you may need to use one or both of these approaches in your research.
• Clarify your design goals. Consider whether your research will be focused on existing services or if it will be aimed at generating new ideas or concepts.
• Brainstorm research questions. Once you clearly understand the research approach you need to take, start formulating research questions. These should be specific and relevant to the service design goals. For example, you may ask questions like "What are the most common pain points experienced by users of the service?" or "What features of the service are most important to users?"
• Refine research questions. Once you have a list of potential research questions, refine them to ensure they are focused and actionable. Consider whether each question can be answered with the available resources and aligns with the overall service design process.
• Formulate hypotheses. Based on your research questions, formulate hypotheses that can be tested through the research study. For example, you may hypothesize that improving a certain feature of the service will lead to an increase in user satisfaction.