Researching Your Report

Guidelines for Traci Gardner’s Technical Writing courses at Virginia Tech

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Follow this process to conduct your research

Skim Your Site
Work through the pages of your site and identify design aspects that make the site hard to read or navigate.

Find Out More
Gather information on design concepts that appear to relate to your website. Check the “Sources on Design Principles” on the Design Research Assignment page to get started.

Sort Your Research
Examine the research you have gathered on design principles in relationship to what you found when you skimmed your site. Make some preliminary decisions about the most pertinent design principles for improving your website.

Identify Several Design Principles
Choose several design principles that you will focus on in your report. You can mention other principles of course, but you need to focus to keep you recommendations clear and easy to understand.

Explain Each Concept
Write a technical description of each design principle you identified. Your explanation tells your reader what you will focus on in your analysis. You will include your explanation in the Methods section of your report.

Analyze Your Site
Once you have identified and explained your design principles, you’re ready to move on to the next part of your research.