Lesson video

Hello, thank you for joining me today.

My name is Mrs. Conway and I will be guiding you through your learning today.

So let's look at our lesson outcome.

It is "I can use graphs, diagrams, and descriptions to present data." So these are our keywords: data, quantitative, qualitative, graph, and target market.

We'll be referring to these as we go through the lesson.

And we're going to start with the different types of data.

So why do we actually collect data? What collecting data is a really important part of the research that we carry out whilst designing.

It's information that we collect and analyse to help us make decisions as we go through the design process.

If we want to effectively design a user centred product, the designer must understand what the user actually wants and needs, and data helps us to do this.

So let's do a quick check for understanding.

True or false? Data is information that is collected and analysed to help with designing.

Pause the video here to give yourself a second to answer it.

How did you get on? It was true.

And the reason, data is needed to help us understand a user's needs and wants.

However, there are different types of data that we can consider.

The first one is quantitative.

The next is quantitative.

Quantitative data can be counted or measured and is expressed as numbers.

For example, a person's height or the weight of a product or a user's age are all quantitative data.

It always focuses on how much or how many.

Qualitative data is information that we collect that is descriptive and based on characteristics.

It is not usually based on numbers, but instead things such as words, pictures, or observations.

So for example, the texture of a fabric or how somebody feels about a product.

Those are examples of qualitative data.

It's easy to think of it as it focuses on the "what," "how," rather than the "how much." Let's do a quick check for understanding on that.

True or false? Quantitative data is information that we collect that is descriptive and based on characteristics.

Pause the video here and give yourself a second to answer that.

How did you do? It was false.

Quantitative data can be counted or measured, so that's the one that can be expressed as numbers.

It can be a little tricky to remember the differences between the two.

So a useful way of remembering this is qualitative data is usually expressed with language and there is an L in the word qualitative, whereas quantitative data uses numbers and there is an N in the word quantitative.

So let's see how you get on with a task.

I want you to try and identify the examples of data given in the table, deciding which ones are quantitative and which ones are qualitative.

So examples you've got here are: how a product makes a user feel, the hand size of the user, the weight of product, observation of a user with a product, the age of a user, or the user preferences on styles that they like.

Pause the video here to give this a go.

How did you get on? So the first one, how a product makes a user feel.

That is example of qualitative data.

The hand size of a user, that is quantitative, as that would be measured and can be recorded in numbers.

The weight of the product is exactly the same.

That would be measured and that would be also quantitative.

However, the observation of a user with a product that would be qualitative as that would be describing how that user interacts with the product.

The age of the user, well that's a number, so that would be quantitative, and the user preferences on style that they like, that would be qualitative, as again, we would need to describe it using words or language.

Right, so next, look at presenting quantitative data.

So one way of gathering quantitative data as part of the design process is carrying out a questionnaire.

Questionnaires allow us to understand what our user or target market may require or need in a product.

A target market is a group of people the product is designed for and that is based on their needs and preferences.

Let's do a quick check for understanding on that.

What is the purpose of a questionnaire when designing? Is it A: to understand what our target market may require or need? B: to understand the sizes of existing products? C: to understand the anthropometric measurements of the target market? Pause the video here and give yourself a second to have a go.

And the answer was A: to understand what our target market may require or need, and well done if you got that right.

Quantitative data can be counted, if you remember, as we record it in numbers.

So we can represent this data using methods such as tables, charts, or graphs.

Now a designer can completely and utterly choose whichever method they wish to present their quantitative data, based on what they think is the clearest way to show that data.

So one method of presenting quantitative data is to use a table.

A table uses rows and columns to display information.

For example, one column might list names and another might show their scores or answers.

Here's an example of a table of results from a questionnaire.

You can see the one column has the different options for the target market to choose from.

The second column shows how many of those people chose those options.

We call this the frequency.

In this particular questionnaire, the target market were asked how they travelled to a music festival, and the table shows the number of people that chose each option from the questionnaire.

Let's do a quick check for understanding on that.

What data would be suitable to record as a table? Is it A: the duration of the target market's journey? B: the target market's, opinion of their journey? Or C: the amount of people that travelled by train? Pause the video here and give yourself a second to have a go at this.

How did you get on? There were two possible correct answers there.

You could have had A: the duration of the target market's journey, as that could be recorded as a number or time, and C: the amount of people that travelled by train, again can be recorded as a number, making it quantitative and really suitable to record as a table.

A designer can also choose to represent their data in a graph by taking a table of results and changing this into a bar chart, for example.

A graph is a visual representation of relationships or values using points, lines, or bars.

The bar chart shows which method of transportation to a music festival was the most popular by using graphics.

By using graphics or putting your data into a graph, you are making that data quicker and easier to interpret by using a more visual method of communicating it.

A bar chart in particular uses bars to show the data, with the height or length of each bar representing how much or how many of something there actually is.

So in this example you can see that the Yeah,-axis, which is the vertical, shows the numbers or amounts like how many or how much, and this is referred to as the frequency.

The x-axis, which is the horizontal one, shows what is being compared, such as categories or groups.

In this case, we have the different options for travelling to a music festival.

Let's do a quick check for understanding again.

The x-axis in a bar chart represents the numbers or amounts.

Is that true or false? Pause the video here if you'd like to take a moment to think about this.

And the answer was false.

The x-axis, the horizontal, shows what is being compared, like categories or groups.

Another method to present quantitative data is a pictogram.

A pictogram is a bar chart that specifically uses pictures or symbols to represent the data instead of using a simple bar.

In this example, the images are circles which allow for the pictogram to be read easily and quickly.

However, the actual images that are chosen for the pictogram can be up to the designer.

Pictograms are usually also accompanied by a key showing what the image represents.

In this case, the key shows how many people one circle represents, and in this case one circle represents four people.

By doing this, you can easily then look at the pictogram to be able to count and figure out how many people chose those different options.

Sometimes the images that are chosen for a pictogram can reflect the topic of the data gathered.

For example, cars for a data concerning travelling by car.

Here is a table of results from a questionnaire.

In the questionnaire, the target market this time were asked how they carried their belongings to a festival.

The table shows the number of people that chose each option from the questionnaire, and that is going down the second column.

Remember that is called the frequency.

The first column shows the different options that were given to the target market to choose from.

So, time for you to have a go.

Using this table of results from the questionnaire, I'm going to ask you to present that table of data using a bar chart or a pictogram, and it's your choice which one you actually use.

You then need to explain why you chose that particular method.

Pause the video here to have a go at this task.

Okay, how did you get on? You were asked to present the table of data using either a bar chart or a pictogram.

Here you can see an example of it being presented as a bar chart.

You may have chosen to do a pictogram, so this will be slightly different.

Here in my example, Alex decided to use that bar chart and he's given his reasons here.

He says that "I decided to use a bar chart as I wanted my data to be as clear as possible.

I also did not feel there were any suitable images to represent the data." And that's as a pictogram.

As long as you've given your reason, that's absolutely fine and as long as you've justified that reason.

Okay, let's look at our last learning cycle now, which is presenting qualitative data.

So qualitative data cannot be presented using graphs.

As we know, qualitative data is based on language and not numbers, so that means that we can't really record it as a "how much" or number kind of graph.

If you remember, qualitative data very much focuses on "what" or "how" rather than "how much." And this means that the results need to be recorded with words.

An example of how you can actually gather qualitative data is carrying out an interview.

That interview can be carried out with an individual user or several users.

The purpose of an interview is to gather information through a series of questions, and those questions are usually open-ended.

Now, open-ended questions are questions that let people give detailed answers, but in their own words.

So rather than just being able to answer either a "yes" or a "no" to a question, the questions are phrased so that they are more open-ended.

For example, "What do you like about this product?" This will almost force the interviewee to be able to go into detail about what they actually like and will prevent them from being able to say a "yes" or "no" response.

Here we've got Laura and Laura is asking an open-ended question.

She's asking, "Why did you choose your method of transportation to the festival?" There is no way of being able to answer "yes" or "no" to that question, and there is no way to be able to give a single one word reply, as such.

This requires some level of detail in the response.

So Jun here needs to be able to answer a more open-ended way.

And he has said, "I do not have my own car and no one else I knew was going by car, so a group of friends invited me to travel by train with them." Laura's got a lot more information out of that because she has asked an open-ended question.

Jun's answer actually describes his situation, and this is going to need to be recorded using words instead of numbers on a graph, as there is no way to be able to put this into a graph format.

Let's do a quick check.

What is an open-ended question? Is it A: questions that give options to choose from? B: questions that only allow one possible answer? Or C: questions that let people give detailed answers in their own words? Pause the video here if you'd like to take a moment to think about this.

And the answer was C: questions that let people give detailed answers in their own words.

Well done if you got that right.

So qualitative data gathered from an interview can be recorded through a mind map.

By using a mind map, you are able to pick out the most important pieces of information from the data.

Some of the questions and answers that you've actually got through the interview might not be relevant or as important as some of the other answers.

So one of the jobs is to pick out which bits are the key pieces of information.

On the mind map, you can also include quotes from the client if they are relevant.

So let's look at a mind map as a way of recording an interview.

This interview is carried out with a festival attendee, looking at how that person carried their belongings to the festival, but this time trying to dig down into a little bit more detail.

So in this, we've already picked out from the interview that the client carried their belongings in carrier bags.

What they've also found out from carrying out this interview that it meant that they had no free hands for finding their ticket in their pocket.

The carrier bags eventually broke.

You can see here is in the inclusion of an actual direct quote, "All of my belongings got wet." The carrier bags dug into their hands, and again, another quote here, "The carrier bags were the only things I could find at home." Not the best organised person for this particular festival.

You can see here that the person carrying out the interview has picked out the key pieces of information.

This will eventually help them with their designing.

It's also laid out in a really easy way to be able to review this information, rather than a transcription of the entire interview.

Let's do a quick check for understanding again.

What type of data is useful to record in a mind map? Is it A: quotes from an interview? B: key information from an interview? Or C: numbers and figures from an interview? Pause the video here to have a go.

And the answer? Two possible answers here.

You could have had either A: quotes from an interview, or B: key information from an interview.

Remember, we really are looking at qualitative data when recording things as a mind map.

So things such as numbers and figures that could be recorded in graphs and charged wouldn't be as relevant.

Another method to record qualitative data is a flow diagram, and this is particularly useful for when conducting and carrying out and recording data from an interview.

A flow diagram shows how the interview has evolved and this can be done with a series of quotations or observations, rather than a whole transcript of the interview, much like the mind map, but presenting it in a slightly different way.

So let's look an example of a flow diagram.

This flow diagram uses the same interview as the mind map does, and so the answers are the same, but they're presented slightly differently.

This time they are presented using arrows and these arrows have been turned into almost like text boxes, but the information is the same as before.

What this allows us to do is almost see the flow of the conversation through the interview.

So the answers are all the same as before.

It's just presented in a slightly different way.

So, time for you to have a go.

Using the interview transcript below, I'd like you to create either a flow diagram or a mind map of the key points of this interview.

Again, which one you choose is completely and utterly up to you, just as it would be as you as the designer.

So the interview is between Laura and Jun.

Laura first asked the question, "Why did you choose your method of transportation to the festival?" Now we've heard this question before.

Jun replies, "I do not have my own car, and no one else I knew was going by car, so a group of friends invited me to travel by train with them." Then Laura asks another open-ended question, "How was your journey?" Jun replies, "It was fun with my friends and quick, but the train was very busy." That question could have backfired 'cause Jun could have very easily just said, "Okay." So when trying to think of questions, always try and keep them as open-ended as possible.

Luckily this has ended up as a more detailed answer from Jun.

Laura then asks, "Did you struggle carrying all of your belongings?" Jun replies, "Yes, the holdall was bulky and really heavy." Again, that could have backfired and Jun could have just replied with "Yes," but luckily he's gone into a little bit more detail.

And the last question from Laura, "How could your journey have been made better?" And Jun replies, "I would've liked a seat as I was standing and trying to hold onto my bag." Just to remind you what you're doing, you are taking that transcript from the interview and turning it into either a flow diagram or a mind map, depending on which one you think is more useful for the answers, and you are trying to record the key points of the interview.

What are the key pieces of information you can gather from that? Pause the video here to have a go at this task.

Right, how did you get on? In this example I'm showing you, I've decided to do it as a mind map, but you may have done it as a flow diagram and that is absolutely fine.

There was no right or wrong answer there.

So in this mind map, I've picked out the key points.

He travelled with friends on the train.

"It was fun with my friends and quick," so I included a quotation in there.

The train was very busy with nowhere to sit down.

The holdall used was bulky and really heavy to carry.

They don't have their own car and they would've liked to have been able to sit down on the train.

How did you get on comparing to that? So let's summarise our lesson today.

What have we learnt? Well, we've learnt that data is information that is collected and analysed to help make decisions during the design process.

We've also learnt that quantitative data can be counted or measured and is expressed as numbers.

And if you remember, I gave you an easy way to remember that as the word quantitative has that N in it reminding us that it is recorded as numbers.

Qualitative data is information that we collect that is descriptive and based on characteristics.

Again, I gave you a way of remembering that, that the L in qualitative can stand for "language." Quantitative data can be presented using tables, charts, and graphs as it's expressed by numbers.

And qualitative data, however, needs to be presented in words, and we can use methods such as mind maps or flow diagrams to help us do that.

Thank you so much for joining me for the lesson today.

I hope you've learnt a lot and I will see you soon.