︎︎︎Nadia Speranza is an art director, community-centred researcher and professor based in Barcelona. Get in touch via Email or Instagram


︎ Design Strategies, Research, Methods and Methodologies ︎︎︎






Design in Action 
Understanding your audience



Design research is a proactive approach aimed at crafting a visual response by employing a precise research methodology. This process delves deep into the heart of the challenge, uncovering diverse perspectives, innovative solutions, and constructing a targeted brand narrative. Its versatile application spans across both commercial and social contexts.

To gain a comprehensive understanding of your audience—how they think, act, and feel—it is imperative to employ a range of research techniques that facilitate a holistic comprehension of your target demographic.

Design thinking is a multifaceted process that must be customized for each unique project. Nevertheless, adhering to fundamental principles is essential in the design thinking journey:
  1. Analyzing behavioral patterns and discerning underlying causes.
  2. Contextualizing the situation to account for its nuances.
  3. Embracing problems as opportunities for improvement, fostering innovation.

User-centered research scheme:







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Service Design Portfolio

Over the years, I have honed my expertise in employing design research techniques to enhance audience comprehension for a variety of purposes. While my clients have been diverse, the integration of design techniques, research, and data analysis consistently follows a unified plan of action within the framework of design thinking methodology.


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1
Designing with the user / CoDesign and collaborative workshops

A space that focuses on encouraging the exploration of creativity on an individual and collective level. A workshop that works on trust and the power of collective achievement. 






Tags:
  • Team Building
  • Team Confidence
  • Collaborative Construction
  • Data Collection
  • Fosters Creativity and Confidence

Team Competencies:
  • Cultivate teamwork by fostering an environment of trust and attentive listening.
  • Facilitate transparent communication, ensuring that users have the opportunity to express their opinions and receive respect.

General Competencies:
  • Gather data on individual and collective behavioral patterns, experiences, and emotions within the team.
  • Facilitate connections between team members and promote integrated communication proposals.
  • Generate comprehensive reports to evaluate collected data.
  • Create an environment that encourages creative expression through analogical means, inviting thoughtful engagement with action and material.


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2
Cualitative Documentations

Interviews and documentation gather valuable qualitative information that can be leveraged for the development of a compelling narrative identity proposal.




 





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3
User Journey / Blueprints

Understanding all the variables within a user's journey through a public or digital service is crucial. User maps provide invaluable insights into user behaviors, issues, opportunities, and preferences when engaging with a service.



Tags:
Design Thinking
Pattern and behavior documentation
Data analysis
Problem identification
Person identification


Competencies for the team:
Encourages creative expression and critical thinking.
Helps unblock the creative process
Promotes a space for written expression

General competencies:
It collects data on behavioral patterns, experiences and feelings within the team at an individual and collective level.
Helps discover creative directions, art directions and general pattern allowances.




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4
Written Survey Documentation

Written surveys typically provide interviewees with a confidential and candid platform for responding, free from the scrutiny of direct observation.






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5
Secondary Research Data Gathering

Secondary research plays a pivotal role in the investigative process by offering a comprehensive grasp of existing information pertaining to your project. This information can be effectively conveyed through various visual mediums, including:
  • Infographics
  • Chart Maps
  • Photographic Data Mapping






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6
Mind Maps Workshops

A workshop opens a space for critical thinking. Unlocks and encourages the search for solutions in an analogical and material way. Mind maps are a tool that allows us to think out loud. Once we materialize ideas, it becomes much easier for us to assimilate them, group them, generate connections and at the same time conclusions.






Tags:
Team Building
Design Thinking
Creative Direction
Data Assimilation


Competencies for the team:
It opens a space to draw conclusions and clarify a problem.
Help the progress of a project
A methodology that develops collective and team thinking

General competencies:
It collects data on behavioral patterns, experiences and feelings within the team at an individual and collective level.
Helps understand the different variants of a project, and where the problem can be found
Mind maps provide creative direction



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7
Prototype Testing / Storytelling and Persona building



Prototype testing and experimentation enable you to gauge public responses, helping refine your focus as necessary. They bring your initial concept to light and challenge your primary narrative. The outcome provides valuable feedback that either corrects or amplifies your original storyline.






Mark