Quantifying Design

In Adam Silver's article "Calculated Design" featured in Design Mind Magazine, he argues for the use of quantitative research methods as another tool in a designer's arsenal. There is value to be added from dissecting research data into useful, relevant chunks a design team can either use to discover new avenues for brainstorming, or to justify their designs with.

Quantitative research is only as good as is interpretation, and it takes a strategic designer to connect the dots in innovative ways that center around the consumer, to create new breakthrough business opportunities. Within a design team it is vital to have a strategic thinker to synthesis the quantitative data gathered through research, and turn it into the usable pieces that can validate a team's intuitive design work. By quantifying design, designers can begin using the same language as none design savvy business people, thus translating the hard-to-understand, intuitive process of design into a language everyone in an organization can understand.