Small Businesses in Detroit

Contextual Research

Qualitative Research | Quantitative Research

Team Project- MFA Integrated Design, College for Creative Studies

Team: Atulya Sekhar, Brian Ashley, Wei Hua Huang

September-December 2019

Purpose of the Study

This research project was conducted to learn qualitative and quantitative research methods and processes. Learning to design and manage research processes was the major outcome of this project. Other skills gathered from this project were generating strong insights and storytelling.

Topic

The city of Detroit has a complex Socio-economical history, which has seen various rises and falls. The project's crux was to understand what the small businesses in Detroit need in the form of support to join the city's current resurgence.

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Qualitative Research

Objective of Interviews

We began our research with established businesses in the city that have been operational for more than 20 years. This helped us understand what is needed to sustain small businesses in Detroit. Interviews were conducted with four historic businesses in Detroit. The objective of the interviews was to understand how these businesses survived the ebbs and flows of the city's economy. The interview questions were semi-structured to enable a contextual exploration. The business owners were asked to talk about their journey, the challenges they faced, and how they overcame them. Since these businesses have been around for so long, they were knowledgeable about the city's role in promoting small businesses. The city's initiatives and policies were also discussed. However, the most interesting insights were about how these small businesses become a part of the city's culture.

Methods and Tools

The methods used were observation, semi-structured interviews, and cultural probes for the customers. 

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Cultural Probes such as a printed map of the city were used to understand how far the customers travel to visit them. Some prompts cards like ‘Tell Us a Memory’ was used to understand the attachment that the customers felt towards these establishments. 

Quantitative Research

Objective 

The qualitative research insights led us to believe that connecting the small businesses in the city with each other and providing a platform to seek support or offer mentorship could be useful for the businesses. A qualitative survey was designed to test this theory. The quantitative research objectives were to understand how small businesses in Detroit viewed success, what kind of support they need to succeed, and whether a mentorship program could be something that the businesses might be interested in. 

The Survey

​An online survey was sent out to eighty small businesses in Detroit and twenty responses were received. The responses were collected online and in-person by visiting the stores.

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Validation

Validation was conducted with users to test how strong the insights were. We conducted validation with three users with a prototype of this platform. The users were presented with the prototype on a device, and they were free to use it to understand the product. They were then asked to tell what they thought about the idea, the prototype, and their suggestions to improve it. The feedback included some questions about data privacy and authority on deciding the businesses' rankings/ratings. The second iteration of the design would need to address these concerns.