Project and
Methods:
Pre-research:
Bounding terms:
Accomplishment, Outlier, and Media Messaging
The first steps of the Media Design Program's approach to design research, as taught in Super Studio, is roughly based on Rosenberg's Poetic Research. Like poetic research it begins with the selection of three terms. Rosenberg calls them triggers, the MDP calls them bounding terms. They both first explore these terms by creating webs of associations around them. In Poetic Research, these expanded terms would form "grounds" that the research expands out of. In the Super Studio method, they become the outward bounds, delimiting what is and is not within the field of inquiry. The largest difference being that the poetic triggers are referred to throughout the process as constant touchstones and guides. Practically speaking the MDP bounding terms shape the research area and provide the base for the initial push of inquiry--secondary research, probe design, and interview questions--but become less important as the research progresses.
For Women Who Play I initially attempted to conduct the research without bounding terms. My feeling was that "Women in their twenties who self describe themselves as playing video games" was a fairly clear direction. I had a hunch that personal history with games would be important and was curious in how the women engaged or didn't with mainstream video game culture. (See Rosenberg for a defense of hunches.) As I discovered through trying to conduct secondary research there was almost no information available. It became clear that this is a rich area for discovery, but it was also clear that I needed to start from something more established, in Rosenberg's terms, a "ground", and move out toward "open water" as opposed to starting there. By starting with concepts that are knowable through secondary research and design exploration it is then possible to move into unknown areas.
Working with advisors, the terms Accomplishment, Outlier, and
Media Messaging were selected. These terms were chossen both for
their relation to the topic at hand and their association with non-gaming
topics. Accomplishment was a recognition that most games are based on
a player starting out poorly and building skills and accomplishments within
the game. Also a game player can be thought of as moving from being new
at games to being more accomplished at them. Outlier is an accurate way
of describing women's position in gaming culture. However, an outlier has
many possible relationships to the thing it out lies, e.g. a rebel, an amateur,
an outcast etc. Media Messaging is suggestive of games as a medium; players using games as a medium to message themselves; and the way in which game publications construct messages to potential players.
On obvious omission from the list is a personal history. The initial spark of the study was that women in their twenties are of the right age to have a long history with games. Throughout the study personal history would remain a major theme. However, it did not make the bounding term list. If the study was to be conducted again it would definitely be included. While many rich insights about history were found, it seems an opportunity was missed to understand history in a deeper way.
Triggers or Bounding Terms also serve to limit the scope of the research in a productive way. In traditional research, the thesis statement serves as the limiting device, keeping the work from roaming too far a field. In design research these terms serve the same purpose--bounding the work as well as creating the base for it. In the undergraduate "Art of Research" class at Art Center College of Design, the students use thesis statements to guide their research and limit their scope. While this proves useful for freshman students with a tendency to change topics when meeting frustration--it would be too limiting for mature designers (See Rosenbergs discussion for his take.pg 5) .