Trying to understand our environment is important when it comes to carrying research. However, with understanding our environment comes a lot of dependency on our experiences.  Although our experiences should not be under estimated, it is important to recognise that they can have limitations too. We must not be focused only upon our own experiences if we want to find out the ultimate truth. This is something I must remember when carrying out my research as I am a type 1 diabetic. Throughout my years of having diabetes I have came to many conclusions and problems that need answered.  However, my experiences may not be the same as other peoples. I must not disregard what others have to say and consider their thoughts and feelings. I need to be prepared for answers I didn’t expect or want to hear.

It has been found that through carrying out research in creative industries such as what I’m doing by designing an app, you not only produce findings that will advance knowledge and understand but you can also address issues and practical problems for practitioners also.  By carrying out design research you can inspire imagination and expose patterns in peoples behaviours and experiences.

For a good project you need to cover many areas such as:

• Interest
• Focus
• Data availability
• Career goals
• Available knowledge

I think I cover all these areas as diabetes is something I am very interested in due to having much knowledge upon the condition from being a diabetic myself.  My focus is continuously upon the condition and has been for many years now. The NHS has carried to many studies and there is lots of data available particularly upon NHS spending on the condition and diagnosis per year.

The book provided many ways to generate Ideas which I have done and will continue to do such as brainstorming, mind mapping, random word association and creative thinking.  This will help me solve problems and tap into my vision further. When it comes to user research having empathy will be key to obtain a deep understanding of the problem needing to be solved.  As suggested by this book I plan on creating empathy maps to learn more about my user, carry out user interview to understand a persons thoughts further, create personas to identify needs and desires and customer journey maps to collect touch points from the beginning to end of the user using my product.  All of these exercises are critical to understand my users perspective and spark innovation.