How to use Primary and Secondary Research in your projects

Many times students ask this question, how can I apply the primary and secondary research, what I did in my projects, and whatever the solution, what I'm ideating, whatever solution I'm bringing finally to the table, it's no way connected between the primary and secondary research, what I did. First of all, how is it really important and if many people are insisting to do that research, how it's going to be connected to my projects? 90% of the time students face this problem, they are not able to exactly come up with a clarity, right? Just for the sake of doing the project, just for the sake of doing the process. Everybody is following a protocol, not even understanding the importance of primary and secondary research and why it is really important and why sometimes it needs to be skipped also. Okay? That balance needs to be there for the students. So this podcast is going to address you, the clarity in why it is important to do primary secondary research and when it needs to be done and when it need not have to be done, and how you can ensure that whatever you did in your primary secondary research is implemented in your final solution. Right? So take a lot of notes. This is a very important, what you call pain point, which design community is also facing, you might be facing or you might likely to face in the future. So this will be definitely useful, guys. Okay, so now let's dive into this topic foreign. So the first important thing about product design and UI UX design is people do a lot of research, right? Let me tell you one important information, guys. If some problem is given or if some kind of a task is given to you, normally people go and research about that particular task or a project or a problem statement or anything, right? So whenever you are collecting some information firsthand by yourself, like let's say going and talking to people and writing down the insights, that becomes primary research, right? When you're able to collect information from a website or a statistics or a data or from some journals and articles, that becomes secondary sources. So people know what is primary, what is secondary. Okay, so the question is, Jagdish, can you tell me how I'm exactly implementing this, how to use this data? Because when people do a research, they totally forget. When they come to an ideation session or a brainstorming session, why did they really do this primary secondary research? They completely forget everything. They make their own ideas. There is absolutely no correlation in whatever work they did and whatever solution they're ideating. See, guys, that is why you need to maintain a proper documentation. This is the first important element you can make a note of it. If you're able to document it properly, mostly you will be able to recollect it and put it back in your work. People never do this. You know what people go for field study. People go what you call a user survey or they collect information. The point is they are very hesitant and lazy to put it back into a paper or a document. Okay, we'll do it later, right? People do it after two, three days. What happens is 60 to 70% of the information what you collected, it will go off in your memory. When you collected in a video or a picture or something, maybe it's a good chance you can retry that and watch it again to get that information. But the point is, a lot of people keep it in their memory. And when you are not able to recollect that moment, what did you exactly ask? And why did that customer ask like this? When you're watching a video, you will have totally no idea what question you asked, right? That is why it's very important to drain and then document it. And that will give you clarity to reflect back in your solution. Guys, let me tell you, this is the one single quality. If you develop 100%, whatever you are researching, it will come into your solution and it will reflect in your final output as well, right? This is the first way to ensure it. The second way to ensure it is making sure it is coming from a reliable information. See, when it's not coming from a reliable information and when it's not having a proper ground or a basics or what you call a stat or a figure for it, what happens is you cannot use it in your projects anyway. So your. Your primary research and secondary research will not be useful at all when it comes to implementation. That is why it is very vital to go and implement. Go to the basics of that statistics or a fact where did you collect it? And make sure it is grounded properly. You know what? That will sometimes change your project in a more different way. That is why having the source of information, having the data collected from the roots, where you are really collecting, that will make a lot of difference. If you have doubts also, you can go back to that source and ask maybe let's say if you're doing a project in drug addiction, if you're going for any drug rehabilitation center, maybe if you're collected information but it is not fitting in your research, or you're not able to use that properly, you can go back again to that center and you can confirm these answers again. You can make a new study also. That is why the Root and source is very important rather than just believing in ChatGPT research and just putting it on, right? See guys, ChatGPT is a tool. Do not love the tool, just use the tools. Lot of times people love the tools. They copy paste ChatGPT information. And let me tell you, there are softwares which can identify easily and whether you're copy pasted from the chat GPT or whether you've written it on your own. People are 100 times smarter than you guys. Okay, people who invented chat GPT, don't you think they would have invented something like this also? So think about it. So you can use chat GPT, but the thing is you have to use your presence of mind, your common sensical knowledge, your thinking process, your own creativity and ability to brainstorm with yourself as well as the online data as well as with the statistics and information. Then there is no chance you will leave that information, putting it in your project, right? So a lot of times people get carried away with that online fancy thing. So that is the problem. They don't implement any of the primary and secondary research in their work. The third important factor, how we can confirm whether, how we are using this in the primary secondary research is asking the right question. What is the question? Let me tell you guys, what problem are you really trying to solve, right? What's the goal of your project? What is your exist? What is the need for doing this project? Please have that clarity properly and repeat it again and again and always write it in your document of your sheet. Always put it down in that page. Even you can put it down in a header of your page also or maybe in a footer of your page also. Chances are you will recollect it. Okay, I'm going to be helping person come out of the drug. I'm going to be helping a person come out of this drug problem so that my solution is going to help them. So yes, now go and look back at your research. Now go and look back at your work. You will see a patterns evolving in it. You will see some kind of an informations coming out of it. Okay? I'll tell you about the pattern in the next step. But the thing is you need to first reflect back and first go back to your research work and understand it. Right? Lot of people forget this end goal. That is the big problem, okay? That's why you can recollect the step one also documenting that when you're able to document it, when you're able to collect it from a proper informational source and when you're able to reflect back on what goal you're trying to solve. Definitely you will find a lot of correlation from the primary, secondary and even you will add more information. Guys, can I tell you honestly, in my project, when I worked for a medical hospital for an incubator, I did the project three times going to the field again and again and again. Okay, I made 18. I made seven different hospitals visit and I traveled to more than 15 places. But again, I went to few places one more time after making the prototypes again, I went third time. The point is, any point of time you can able to go back and get information. See, it's actually an iterative process. You cannot say like I will go 1, 1 shot in field or collect information and that becomes usable for my project and I'll complete the project. No, it's absolutely wrong. And it's absolutely what you call not a good mindset of a designer. You need to be having that openness then and only you will be able to reflect back on what information you collected and what information online is showing and what information it is, how you are inferring that definitely you will be able to put it back in your project. Or else, guys, it will not fit in any of your research or your work. It will just be hanging around in a case study. That's it, right? Go and look back your case studies. Is it everything reflecting in your final solution? No. It's because you have not followed these methods and steps. That is why it is very vital to ask this question. Okay, so the fourth important question, fourth important element is finding the pattern. This is the most important skill. Guys. Hey, Jagdish, how can I find pattern here? I need to be a genius. I need to be a very creative guy. I need to be that kind of a guy who is working in ideo Design studio, Frog Design studio. I need to do some G boombot to find that pattern. No, guys, very simple. Close your eyes and think about that information for a little longer time. Think about what did you collect in your field. Go and read about one or two times. What did you collect in your research? Watch closely if you're finding some information on the online. Watch closely if you're seeing some competitors data. Understand when people are talking about a problem. Try to find the hidden patterns. Try to find what people are not seeing. Try to read in between the lines, like let's say if person is saying when you're working on a drug rehabilitation center. If a person is saying, I came into drug problem because of my family, you know, my wife Is actually having lot of problems with me and we got divorced. And she was really a bad woman, you know, that's why I got into drugs. I am not very interested in having further relationship and I really feel empty. That's the reason I came into this job. Say, if you are getting a field data or study from a person like this. So if you are able to think clearly what this person said. See, he has told a lot of things. First, he has told about he has a wife, okay? Second, he has told about she is bad, okay? Third, she told, she said about they got divorced. And because of that reason he is feeling empty, right? Because of that emptiness, he is taking the drug. So there are five different elements which that person has said. If you look closely, you can infer this project by understanding because of having a relationship. This kind of obsession comes for a person, right? So you can understand people who are not having a relationship. Or maybe if they are single, they are more less likely to get drug addicted. See, you can infer this information, right? See, understand this may be true, this may not be true. But as per your information, what you collected from that user and if let's say 100 of your users are telling the same answer, you can conclude this project also saying people who are not engaged in relationship will not have drug problems at all. They are already out of the thing. So our target market is very different. Now you can even turn your research in your project in your target market and design some products and solutions for them. See, this is a simple information, but people don't know how to find the hidden pattern out of it, right? This guy has not said like hey, because of relationship only I'm getting in this problem. He didn't say that, right? He said something else, but you read in between the lines and then he said, I'm divorced, right? So people go into an emotional trauma. Some people are not divorced also. So you have to think about, okay, what if the person is not divorced and he's still in drug? What is the situation for them? Go and find that user and go and find that client and talk to him and understand the feedback what that guy is saying. See, now you got another insight and a pattern. And he's saying he's feeling empty. That means he wasn't really truly love and relationship with that person, right? If a person feels void, it feels that that's a very true relationship. Maybe that person is really missing a lot because of the absence of that person. So you can think about designing a solution. Can I use a method to Bring back the relationship for them. Yeah, that could be a solution. See your project entirely getting changed now. Your brief is getting changed now. This is how you need to look closely to see the patterns. Read in between the lines and understand what people are saying, what people are meaning, what people are not saying, what people are not meaning. The four sentences, what I told is very important, guys. Just rewind 15 seconds in your podcast and listen to it. Okay? I've recorded a separate podcast called Listening Quality of a Designer. If you're able to apply this listening, this particular fourth point, what I told you, pattern finding will become so easy, guys. Lot of people in a very hurry bury mindset and a completion mindset of a project. People don't really think, think for a moment or have a patience to understand what a person is saying, what that data is saying, what that number is saying. See, guys, always numbers tell stories, right? Numbers and statistics tell stories. You need to understand that. If you're able to watch closely, like let's say if there is 18 percentage increase in alcohol consumption after pandemic, you can watch that data closely. Okay, I'm just quoting an example. Okay. 18 percentage increase means. So what made these people increase already? Alcohol is there. People are getting addicted. But why particularly after pandemic? Because people are staying in the home for a longer time. They don't have proper work, they are thinking about something bad and they are going into an addiction. So if you're able to replace their habit with something else which is interesting and engaging for them, we can bring out that 18% of the people, we can design a product to make them interesting and engaging. Right? You can even start up an industry. See, the point is, if you're able to see the patterns and the numbers and the stories behind it, definitely you will be able to take lot many things, guys. Okay, this is the fourth important point. Let me recollect you guys. The first important thing about using a primary secondary research date information is if you have documented it properly, you will be able to surely inculcate it. Second is go to the source and the information and find out where you are getting this information from. And that thing needs to be very grounded properly. Third is having a clear goal and saying it again and again to your project and your final end customer. What is the problem? What you're going to solve will clarify a lot of things. What you did in your primary secondary research to make it usable. The fourth is finding out the pattern, what people are saying, what people are meaning what. How to read in between the lines by Listening carefully, you'll be able to change a different amount of things from your primary and secondary research. And the fifth important element and the good golden tip is taking action and moving forward. Guys. See if you keep on seeing. I don't know how to implement the primary and secondary research. I don't know how to use this information. Nothing is going to happen guys. If you're not able to sometimes implement it, please don't stop your project. Keep on going. Sometimes data will be hanging. Sometimes information, what you collected will not be useful. Sometimes it will be little irrelevant. Yeah, that is fine. That's a part of process. You need to keep on moving by taking action. Guys, this is the one single thing nobody does. Particularly if you're a fresher, if you're a student, there needs to be a person who can really push you through this boundary. Or else you will leave this field thinking it is very dry, very boring. Design means I thought fancy making screens website. Let me tell you guys, if you're working as a graphic designer, the average salary for you is only 20 30,000 in India, okay? But if you're working as a UX researcher, research is very boring, right? That's where the average package is.14 LPA. Money lies in boring things. If you're able to understand this important element, definitely you can able to add more value for your company. Okay, why they're paying more? Have you ever questioned it? Everybody's saying UX is more, UX is more. In UX itself, UX research is more. Let me tell you guys, it's because of the way in which you structure your project and information and data which can collectively open up a new avenue for the company. Right? In between, I told you in this podcast there is an idea which is coming for a startup. Also, how can I start up an industry with that information, right? So that is why the power of data and research and using this information can change your everything. So take action and move forward. Guys. You know what? In this fifth point, why I'm telling it's golden point, because if you're moving along, sometimes you will find a pattern. Sometimes you will get the clarity, sometimes you will get lot of information. Because design is all about taking action and moving forward. If you are stuck somewhere thinking too much, analyzing too much, parallelizing too much, you will get paralyzed. Only nothing will move ahead. So the fifth important strategy is taking action and move ahead. Eventually you will find a good pattern or an information. Or if you're not finding also, maybe your solution will be really good enough. Maybe your research Is not that perfect. Maybe the data what you collected is totally irrelevant. That's okay. You need to know how to detach from your work. Also, you should not celebrate your work. You should not get attached. Hey, I've collected this information. Somehow I need to fit in my project. Don't have that rigidity. If you are able to move fluidly in a fast way, if you're taking action continuously, definitely you will not feel that rigidity. That's why I told you it's a golden point. People who are very rigid in their mindset, they get stuck like this. People who are fluid in nature will do it. Something else will come. Okay, no problem. Let me do the research again. They are not lazy. They are very fluidic in nature. And definitely they will bring more creativity to this field. Guys, so this is how five different strategies you can use the primary and secondary research what you collected from your project and make it usable. Okay, so if you like my podcast, give me a best star rating in Apple and Spotify. And if you need my support in guiding and mentoring, hit that email. Guys, I'll be happy to help you out. But there is a qualification which I keep for each and everybody. I don't take a lot of students. I take only a few students and help them and guide them to increase their design skills and increase their salaries. And in less than three months, students get results. So the point is, if you're interested, you can send an email. I'll be happy to qualify in this program. Okay, so thank you so much, guys. Thank you so much. Take care. All the best. Bye. Bye. See you.