Qualitative Research Methods in Design

About the Course

This course is designed for postgraduate students in design, as well as researchers and professionals in design-related fields. It is suitable for those who wish to deepen their understanding of qualitative research methods and their application in design contexts. The course is also relevant for doctoral students and faculty members engaged in design research. Faculty members who want to teach courses in Design Theory may also attend this course.

The course counts towards 6 credits in the ePGD programme in Interaction Design offered by IDC School of Design, IIT Bombay.

Who should attend?

This programme is for you if you are:

A postgraduate student in design interested in qualitative research methods in design.
A researcher or professional in a design-related field wanting to learn basic qualitative methods.
Design Researcher conducting qualitative design projects or user studies.
A doctoral student or faculty member involved in qualitative design research.

Goals and Outcomes

After attending this course learners should be able to:

Contents and Schedule

The table below shows the planned contents for the 6 day online course. The course can be conducted either as one full day (either Sat or Sun) or as two half days (both Sat & Sun) depending on the preference of the course participants. Participants should have basic research knowledge, communication, and Excel/Word/Google Doc skills, along with a commitment to fieldwork and teamwork.

Week

Topics (Lectures)

Learning activities, assignments

Week 1

Introduction to Qualitative Research: Overview, principles, and paradigms. Features of qualitative research.

Topic finalization, Identifying research paradigms

Week 2

Data collection methods: Observation, interviewing, transcription.

Permissions, and protocol development.

Week 3

Fieldwork and Initial Data Collection: Rapport building, icebreaking, and conducting interviews. Introduction to journaling and transcription techniques.

Conduct fieldwork and transcribe interviews. Field journal entries and transcriptions.

Week 4

Introduction to Coding and Thematic Analysis: Basics of qualitative coding and identifying themes. Semantic vs. latent codes. Thematic analysis overview.

Coding transcripts, generating themes, and refining them with mentor guidance. Initial codes and draft themes.

Week 5

Thematic Development and Narrative Formation: Synthesizing themes, framing narratives, and developing context. Preparing for theme reportage.

Finalizing themes and narratives, draft a reflective essay, and prepare theme reportage. Themes, narratives, and reflective essays.

Week 6

Presentations and Peer Review: Mentor feedback on Final project. Peer review. Reflective discussions on methodologies and findings. Final project presentations (in-person in the IITB campus)

Present findings, review peer work, and refine outputs. Final presentations and peer reviews. End-course exam (in-person in the IITB campus)

Fees

The fees for this course will be ₹1,22,272 (₹ 1,03,620 + ₹ 18,652 GST).

The fees includes

Course materials, which will be distributed digitally. 
Lunch and tea breaks when you are in-campus.

The fees does NOT include

Accommodation
Learn about accommodation here.

Please note that TDS need NOT be deducted towards payments made to IIT Bombay. A certificate to this effect is available on request.

Registration Process

Eligibility Criteria

You have an undergraduate degree (or equivalent) from a recognised university in any of these disciplines: design, engineering, architecture, fine arts, applied arts, information architecture, ergonomics / human factors, writing and communication.
OR
You have any other undergraduate degree from a university recognised by IIT Bombay and if you have work experience in the industry of 3 years or more in any of these roles: user interface designer, user experience designer, web developer, information architect, graphic designer, visual designer, copywriter, product manager, brand manager.

Preparing Documents

Before you register for your first ePGD IxD course, please keep these documents handy:

Proof of Identity
Proof of Address
Previous academic and work experience certificates (see eligibility criteria above)
Birth certificate
Any additional documents specified by the IDC School of Design or the Educational Outreach Office.

At the time of registration for a course, you will need to submit a scanned copy of the documents listed above. Please merge all the above documents into a single PDF before you start registration.

Steps to register

Please follow the following process to register for a course:

Please visit https://portal.iitb.ac.in/ceqipapp/home.jsp and click on the link "List CEP/GIAN Courses".
Locate the course that you wish to register for and click on the "Apply" button below it. Create an account and login if necessary. Then fill out the course registration form. You will be asked to submit the above documents.
IDC School of Design will verify that you meet the eligibility criteria of the ePGD IxD programme and will approve your application. You will get an email of this approval (usually within 24 hours).
After your application is approved, you are allowed to complete your registration and pay the fees. Login on https://portal.iitb.ac.in/ceqipapp/home.jsp again, click on "My Courses" and click on the button called "Application Submission Details".
Pay the fees. You could pay by UPI, internet banking, credit or debit cards, demand draft (DD), or choose to pay through your company. If you choose DD, you will need to have the DD details ready. If you choose to use company payment, please have the name and contact details of the person in your company who will manage the payment.
After IIT Bombay receives your fee, you will get a confirmation email.
Course instructors may send you more instructions after that.

In case you need any help with registration, please send an email to epgd.ixd@eo.iitb.ac.in.

After Registration

After you have registered, you need to do two important things after you register for your first course:

APAAR Number Generation: After you register for your first course of ePGD IxD, you will need to create your Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) account and generate an APAAR number. Once you have done that, please email it to epgd.ixd@eo.iitb.ac.in. You need to complete this process before the course begins.
Document Verification: At the time of registration, you will need to submit a scanned copy of the documents listed above. However, please note that before the award of the ePGD IxD certificate, you must present their original documents for verification by the office of IDC School of Design in the IIT Bombay campus. You can get your document verification done at any time after you register for your first course.

You need to do the above steps only once. From your second course onwards, you need to simply register for the course.

Cancellation Policy

In general, all course fees paid for the ePGD programme are not refundable. Only in case of unavoidable reasons beyond the control of the participant, the course fee may be refunded if the request is received in advance. A request in this regard could be sent to this email id: epgd.ixd@eo.iitb.ac.in. If your request is received 30 days before the start of the course, IIT Bombay will refund 80% of the fees paid. If your request is received 15 days before the start of the course, IIT Bombay will refund 60% of the fees paid. Cancellation requests received after that will not receive any refund.

Credits and Certification

Participants get 6 credits after passing this course which count towards the ePGD in Interaction Design from IIT Bombay. Please refer to the Credits / Certification section of the FAQs for more details.

Accommodation

Please send an email to epgd.ixd@eo.iitb.ac.in if you would like to avail accommodation in the IIT Bombay guest house or hostel. These will be confirmed based on availability after you pay the course fees. Please remember that accommodation costs are not included in the course fees. Please refer to the Accommodation section of the FAQs for more details.