Urban Chicken Farmers Final Statement

While working with Jessie, and Jessica on our group Urban Chicken Farming sub-culture project we learned a great deal about the value of design research. While researching Urban Chicken Farming we utilized many different methods of research consisting of interviews, secondary research, prompts, probes, photo survey, guided tours, behavioral mapping, and shadowing. The results were consistently surprising in the amount of data that was able to be gathered. As a group we found it refreshing to be able to research a sub-culture so hands on and in depth that we really had a grasp of what their situation was. This allowed us to discover several gaps in todays urban chicken farmer's life where there was genuine need to be filled. We met many wonderful people who opened their doors to us as students to share in their struggle to keep their chickens in an urban environment and in many cases share their beliefs with their children. These kind people became our personas, allowing us to create two sides to the Urban Chicken Farmer persona. The visual & verbal audit allowed us to break down the communication codes that they send and receive through so that we can better tailor our solutions to their needs once a designer utilizes our research book. The affinity diagram allowed us to break down our information gathered into values, traits, and goals that can be clearly laid out for future designers to reference. Task analysis allowed us to show behaviors, obstacles, and decision points that Urban Chicken Farmers make in their day to day life. In conclusion design research plays a huge role in creating successful design work. Our entire group agrees that we will forever be better for it because now understand this fully.