What Design Research can Learn from Documentary Filmmaking
Summary
Video can be so much more than just a presentation aid and a way to engage stakeholders; it can also be a means to explore, understand, and convey deep human truths. Through the lens of documentary filmmakers and visual ethnographers, film can be a powerful medium with which to capture context and emotion, and tell nuanced stories. In this fireside chat with three design researchers who have extensive experience working with video and documentary techniques, you will hear how they integrate documentary filmmaking approaches and methods into their research practices.
Key Insights
-
•
Documentary filmmaking involves active collaboration between filmmaker and subjects, not passive observation.
-
•
Visual anthropology backgrounds help design researchers see cultural context and material culture as core story elements.
-
•
Video serves as both a data capture tool and a medium for thinking about and analyzing research information.
-
•
Authenticity in video research requires balancing participants’ self-representation with researchers’ storytelling perspectives.
-
•
Structured video scripts asking participants for environment and personal response shots improve remote video ethnography.
-
•
Multi-tiered video deliverables—from highlight clips to full contextualized stories—better serve diverse stakeholder needs.
-
•
Good storytelling in research videos helps insights travel through organizations, fostering empathy and shared understanding.
-
•
Video can connect remote and distributed teams by enabling collaborative synthesis sessions with rich audiovisual material.
-
•
Interpreting video data collaboratively uncovers multiple perspectives and challenges team assumptions.
-
•
Tools like Reduct’s Video Board facilitate organizing, tagging, and collaborative manipulation of video clips in research workflows.
Notable Quotes
"Film is not just a way to capture information, it’s a way to think about information."
"The fly on the wall approach is a myth; interaction between filmmaker and people is what makes documentary film interesting."
"If ethnographic film is just observational, then it’s just a security camera and a bank, and I want no part of it."
"We answer questions differently when we’re living life and doing activities than when we’re sitting down facing the camera."
"People now carry incredibly powerful cameras everywhere, changing how stories are told and represented."
"Great stories travel through organizations freely when they connect to what really moves and motivates people."
"Different stakeholders interpret stories differently, and those conversations are valuable for deeper understanding."
"Autoethnography and video diaries enable participants to capture aspects of their lives that researchers might not see otherwise."
"Contextualizing sound bites or clips is crucial; otherwise, they risk losing meaning when separated from their original story."
"Collaboration with participants via video is possible even in constricted remote or hybrid work environments with the right methods."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Brian Chesky does what Brian Chesky wants — he tweeted our blueprint, and we had nothing to do with that."
Rebecca GimenezWork in Progress: Service Design at Airbnb
December 3, 2024
"Those three retailers pivoted literally overnight under intense change management pressure."
Lada GorlenkoTheme 2 Intro
June 9, 2022
"There’s a tension in repositories having to serve immediate product decisions and more durable, strategic knowledge."
Brigette Metzler Dana ChrisfieldResearch Repositories: A global project by the ResearchOps Community
August 27, 2020
"Instead of telling the story, bring in actual users to tell their frustration directly to your team and execs."
Discussion
June 9, 2017
"Designing a service is really designing a new relationship between government and people, who come with enormous baggage."
Sarah Brooks Jennifer PahlkaFireside chat with Sarah Brooks and Jen Pahlka
October 21, 2021
"Every single thing that we would plan to say to the participant is spelled out in this interview guide to build transparency and trust."
Lisa Spitz Nikki BrandBuilding Trust Through Equitable Research Practices
November 18, 2022
"We were doing all the things until we got the advice to specialize; that moment changed everything."
Theresa NeilDesigning for Wellness: Specializing in Healthcare
May 22, 2024
"What if we trained Midjourney on our own style? That felt more ethical and right for our project."
Maverick Chan Claire LinFrom Doodle to Demo: AI as Our Storytelling Partner
October 23, 2025
"Psychological safety means if I make a mistake on our team, the people won’t disconnect from me."
Alla WeinbergDesign Teams Need Psychological Safety: Here’s How to Create It
September 8, 2022
