Thinking about your practice
Before doing any form of research, it’s always helpful to do a little thinking before you start searching. Click on the flip cards below to explore some areas that are helpful to map out:
Writing it down
Taking notes can be really helpful, to map out ideas, or record what you find useful as you research. Jot down all your first ideas and inspirations, and research leads as you explore. You never know where the seeds of an idea will turn up!
Visit our guide on Making digital notes for advice and tools to help you manage your notes.
Keep digging
You may find that, depending on what aspect of your project you’re currently researching, that you might come back and revisit this thinking as your project, and your searching evolves. Design is an iterative process, as you move from a vague idea to a design concept, to multiple prototypes ending with a detailed and well thought through design solution.
Try not to be too literal if you are exploring a concept or still forming an idea. You may find the Digging Deeper section of this guide has some useful points if you are trying to search for a more conceptual idea.