Route · Public Design Atlas
Understand people
To truly get to know the people who use a product, a space, or a service.
Observe
See what people do, not just what they say.
Contextual inquiry
A method in which people are observed and asked questions while they carry out their tasks in their own setting, like an apprentice beside a master.
How it’s used
How it’s done
- You accompany the person while they do their real work.
- You ask in the moment, without interrupting too much.
- You interpret with them what you have observed.
- Output
- Notes on how a person works in their setting, and why
- Avoid
- Turning it into a sit-down interview far from where everything happens: ask the person to show you how they do it, as if you were going to learn their job.
Shadowing
An observation method in which you accompany a person for a period, like their shadow, to see what they do, with whom, and why.
How it’s used
How it’s done
- Agree with the person when and for how long to accompany them.
- Observe and note what they do, with whom, and where.
- Ask afterward about what was not clear.
- Output
- Notes on a person’s complete routine
- Avoid
- Intervening or giving opinions while you observe: it changes what the person does.
Ethnography
Studying a group by spending time with it in its own setting, observing and taking part, to understand its practices and what they mean to its members.
How it’s used
How it’s done
- Enter the field. Gain access and trust in the place.
- Observe and take notes. Field notes, photos and informal conversations.
- Interpret. Look for patterns and meanings in what you gathered.
- Output
- A description of a group’s practices and what they mean to its members
- Avoid
- Calling a one-afternoon visit ethnography: it takes time and repeat visits.
Go-along
Accompany a person during an everyday activity in their own setting, like shopping or getting around their neighborhood, and talk about what happens in the moment.
How it’s used
How it’s done
- Agree on the outing. Which activity, where and for how long.
- Go along and talk. Observe, ask, and take notes or photos with permission.
- Review afterward. Sort notes and key moments as soon as possible.
- Output
- Notes and observations of an activity seen in its real context
- Avoid
- Turning it into a tour led by you: let the person set the route.
Ask
Hear their reasons in their own words.
In-depth interview
A long, open, guided conversation with a single person to understand in detail their experiences, motivations and way of seeing a topic.
How it’s used
How it’s done
- Prepare a guide of topics, not a closed questionnaire.
- Have a conversation following what the person tells you.
- Record and analyze looking for themes and quotes.
- Output
- Detailed accounts of experiences and motivations
- Avoid
- Asking for general opinions instead of concrete stories (“the last time you…”), asking leading questions or selling your idea.
Focus group
A conversation led by a moderator with a small group on a specific topic, to learn their opinions and how they build them by talking to each other.
How it’s used
How it’s done
- Prepare. A topic guide and the stimulus to be shown.
- Moderate. Open the conversation and share out the turns.
- Analyze. Look for themes, agreements and disagreements.
- Output
- A group’s opinions and how they build them through conversation
- Avoid
- Using it to measure how many people prefer something: it is small and the group sways opinions.
Survey
A questionnaire with the same questions for many people, designed to measure in numbers how many think, do or prefer something.
How it’s used
How it’s done
- Define what to measure. Which decision depends on the answer.
- Write and test. Test the questionnaire with a few people before sending it.
- Send and analyze. Count, compare groups and read carefully.
- Output
- Numerical data on what many people think, do or prefer
- Avoid
- Asking about what they will do in the future (“would you use it?”): what people say they will do isn’t what they later do.
Follow them over time
What happens over days or weeks.
Diary study
Participants record their activities, experiences or emotions over a period at the moment they happen, using text, photos or audio.
How it’s used
How it’s done
- Give the instructions. What to record, when and with what.
- Follow along. Reminders and review of what comes in each day.
- Close with an interview. Talk with each person about their diary.
- Output
- Records of activities and emotions noted in the moment
- Avoid
- Asking for too much each day: people stop writing.
Synthesize
Find what repeats and what surprises.
Affinity diagram
Writing each research observation on a note and grouping the notes by affinity, bottom-up, until the themes that connect them emerge.
How it’s used
How it’s done
- Write one observation on each note.
- Group the notes that are alike, without prior categories.
- Give a title to each group and arrange the groups.
- Output
- Observations grouped into themes
- Avoid
- Starting with categories already decided: that way you only confirm what you believed.
Design synthesis
The process of organizing, grouping, and interpreting what has been researched until patterns, insights, and design opportunities emerge.
How it’s used
Why it happens
- Get all the information out while it is fresh.
- Group and regroup it, looking for patterns and differences.
- Interpret it until insights and opportunities are formulated.
- Avoid
- Jumping from data to solutions without going through interpretation.
Insight
A new, well-grounded interpretation about people and their context that explains why they do what they do and opens design opportunities.
How it’s used
Why it happens
- Start from observed facts, never from assumptions.
- Connect several findings until a common motive emerges.
- Phrase it as desire and friction: what the person wants and what stops them.
- Avoid
- Calling a piece of data or a team opinion an insight.
Represent them
A way to keep them in mind in every decision.
Personas
A method for summarizing research in a few fictional characters, with a name, goals and context, who represent groups of users.
How it’s used
How it’s done
- Research with real users.
- Group similar goals and behaviors.
- Each group becomes a character.
- Output
- A few fictional characters, with a name, goals and context
- Avoid
- Making them up in an afternoon or filling them with stereotypes and details that don't help decide.
Journey map
A method for representing a person's path through a service, step by step, with their actions, touchpoints, emotions and pain points.
How it’s used
How it’s done
- Research with real people, not imagined ones.
- Draw the journey with its emotions and pain points.
- Choose the moments most worth improving.
- Output
- A step-by-step map of the journey, with actions, touchpoints, emotions and pain points
- Avoid
- Drawing it from the office without talking to anyone: it will be the team's opinion, not the real experience.