Research
Studies of how creative work is judged, compared and chosen in competitive settings, and how those findings are put to use.
Questions the research asks
Much of what passes for common sense about competitive design rests on untested assumptions. The Centre's research sets out to examine those assumptions directly, using evidence gathered from the people who make and judge creative work.
The programme is deliberately narrow in focus. It considers how briefs are interpreted, how proposals are compared against one another, and how decisions are explained after the fact. Each study begins with a clearly stated question and a method suited to answering it.
Method
Studies combine structured interviews, comparative review of completed work and observation of live decision meetings. No single source is treated as decisive. Findings are reported with the conditions under which they were gathered, so that readers can judge how far they apply to their own practice.
- Interviews with briefing clients and creative leads.
- Blind comparison of anonymised proposals.
- Records of decisions taken in review meetings.
A proposal that wins a comparison is not necessarily the one that best answers the brief. The difference is worth measuring.
Results of this kind are published in plain language, with the method stated in full, so that the findings can be tested by others.
How a study progresses
Each project moves through a set of stages. The timeline below describes the sequence in general terms, since the detail varies with the question being asked.
Stage one
Framing the question
The question is written down with its assumptions, and the criteria for a useful answer are agreed before any data is gathered.
Stage two
Gathering evidence
Material is collected using the chosen methods, with records kept of how and when each source was obtained.
Stage three
Reporting findings
Results are set out alongside their limits, and the report identifies what further work would be needed to confirm them.
Gathering the evidence
Researchers working on a question can review the supporting material in the gallery below, which shows the typical stages of a comparison session.
Questions about the work
Enquiries about a particular study, or about access to published results, can be sent through the contact page.