Company identification/ selection

The criteria for selecting companies for each data collection method always builds on the one used for a previous method. As part of framing the study, cognitive aspect of design was of interest, thus the researcher’s interest in companies involved in the cognitive side of design. The funnel nature of the process allowed the study to move from being abstract to being more specific or focussed; see Figure 17 for the company selection criteria. In addition to learning more about the problem, the funnel also helped narrow/ select companies for the final case studies.

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Figure 17: Company selection criteria.

The approach continued to follow grounded theory, as the nature of the data being sought was heavily dependent on the findings from the previous studies. Therefore, a study had to be fully analysed in order to move-on to the next data collection. At the same time, the study also followed a deductive research approach where the researcher sought to find the meaning from all data collected. It was anticipated that data from this study would verify some of the data collected from previous studies and enable an investigation of what is actually done by the companies during a project.

Cohen (2011), points out that researcher always collect information from a smaller sample of the population in such a way that the information collected is representative of the total population under study. However, not all studies have a burden to be generalizable to total population. Moreover, Murphy (2001, p52) thought strengthening claims of generalizability may mean “combining the intensive study of one or more cases with a more targeted examination of a larger number of cases, to discover whether the observations made in earlier case(s) hold elsewhere.”

Funnel

Less specific

Companies/ industries approach to UCD processes.

More specific

UCD process followed a specific project.

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For this particular study industry data is not fully known as the only data base available was not reliable. Therefore, finding balance between having a large sample, time availability and the cost to conduct a study is essential.

The funnel technique was used for the sampling process, starting with the survey study which had 47 participants. See Figure 18 for the sampling criteria used for the data collections conducted in this study. ‘Pink’ coloured participants were part of the GA industry, while the ‘Blue’ coloured participants represented the FI industry in the interview and case studies. The number of participants in the survey study represented the maximum number (47) of participants in this research. Sampling for the interviews was done on the survey participants for a total of 19 participants;

further sampling for the case studies were based on the interview study participants for a total of four participants.

Figure 18: Sampling funnel representing companies that participated in this study.

The sampling for the different data collection methods are further explained;

Scoping Study Sampling

The targeted companies/ organisations were discovered through government agencies website Botswana Export Development and Investment Authority (BEDIA) industry and company web listings. In addition to industry sectors, BEDIA data provided company listings within each industry including company contact details;

website, email and telephone number. Table 9, shows a list of industries and companies complied from the BEDIA database.

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Table 9: Number of manufacturers in the shortlisted industries. Manufacturers Directory [BEDIA] (2007).

Industries Number of

Manufactures

Survey Selected Manufacturers Furniture Manufacturing 37 manufactures 36 manufactures Building Construction 86 manufacturers 11 manufactures Arts and handicraft 4 manufacturers 4 manufactures Apparels and Textile 59 manufacturers 3 manufactures Motor Vehicle Accessories 6 manufacturers 3 manufactures

Leather 5 manufacturers 0 manufactures

Food Stuff & Beverages 64 manufacturers 0 manufactures Pharmaceutical products 6 manufacturers 0 manufactures

Paper and stationary 7 manufacturers 0 manufactures

Other 3 manufacturers 0 manufactures

Industries in red represent shortlisted industries satisfying some of the company selection criteria. Furthermore, despite “Apparels and Textile” having 59 manufacturers it wasn't selected because it did not align the boundaries of the study.

The criteria for industry selection for the interviews were;

 a potential use/ need for industrial design.

 secondly the number of manufacturers within a particular industry had to be sufficient to conduct a study.

A total of eight (8) organisations/ companies and two universities (2) participated in this study (see Table 10).

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Table 10: Scoping study participating companies.

Proposed Areas Product Company Name

Government and industry

organizations

Product research Botswana Technology Centre (BOTEC) Venture capital,

Limkokwing University of Creative Technology (LUCT) University of Botswana (UB)

Because of the lack of reliable data base, the researcher relied on the snow-ball technique to identify participating companies. Table 9 is the database used to initiate the snowball technique; starting with companies that had up-to-date information on the database and then using word-of-mouth to discover more participants. The sampling strategy was influenced by the researchers scoping study experience with data collection in Botswana. Given the low number of potential participants, 40 companies were thought to be sufficient for the survey. To identify appropriate companies the following criteria was utilised, the company;

 Had to be making user commissioned products, as there is a higher potential of user involvement in the product development process.

 Had to have potential need for designers for their product development.

 The number of manufacturers in an industry was important to attaining a sufficient sample size.

Furniture manufacturing (including interior design), Apparels & textiles, Arts &

handicraft, and Building & construction were the selected industries for the study.

Upon arrival in Botswana, the Arts & Crafts industry was discovered to be informal and the listed “manufactures” from the database were only re-selling and were not involved in the manufacturing. However, the researcher discovered the Graphic

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Design industry which was not listed in industry databases, but had a substantial number of companies. Therefore, Arts & Crafts industry was replaced by Graphic Design.

Table 11, are the study participants from the Tent and Auto manufacturing industry;

while Table 12 represents study participants from the Metal fabrication industries.

These two industries were then left out of the next study.

Table 11: Tent and Auto companies that participated in the survey study.

Company Employee Number Years in Business Location

SCBA 1-10 3-5 Gaborone

LC 31 and above Over 10 Lobatse

ALI 31 and above Over 10 Maun

DKSR 1-10 3-5 Maun

TE 1-10 0-2 Maun

KKC 21-30 Over 10 Maun

TJB 1-10 Over 10 Francistown

Table 12: Metal Fabrication companies that participated in the survey study.

Company Employee Number Years in Business Location

ESW 11-20 3-5 Gabororne

AB 11-20 Over 10 Gabororne

A2 21-30 6-10 Gabororne

LFE 31 and above 6-10 Gabororne

Table 13 represents a list of companies from the Graphic / Advertising (GA) industry that participated in this study; while Table 14 represents a list of participating companies from the Furniture / Interior (FI) industry. The highlighted companies are those that were carried over to the next data collection (interviews).

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Table 13: GA companies that participated in the survey study.

Company Employee Number Years in Business Location

VP 1-10 6-10 Gaborone

Table 14: FI companies that participated in the survey study.

Company Employee Number Years in Business Location

BM 31 and above 6-10 Gaborone

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The total number of companies participating in the survey study was 47, seven more than the initial target of 40; (Tent and Auto) = 7, Metal fabrication = 4, GA = 18, and FI = 18.

Interview Study Sampling

The two selected participating industries (FI and GA) were chosen because of a greater number of participants in each industry. Target participants for the interview study were the survey study participants. Further the selection criteria included:

 There had to be sufficient number of companies within an industry for the results to be generalisable.

 The company had to be making customised products (products to be made commissioned by the customer/user).

 The company had to have designers as part of their staff or potential to hire designers for their product development.

 There was also an attempt to select typical companies and to have geographical diversity.

Since the researcher already had participant contacts from the survey study; the shortlisted potential participants were contacted through a phone call since an e-mail is highly unreliable in Botswana’s context. Furthermore, the majority of companies did not have websites which could have been used to better select the most suitable participant. The intent was to interview a minimum of 20 companies, 10 from the GA industry and the other 10 from the FI industry. Table 15 is a list of GA companies that participated in the interview and Table 16 showing participating companies from the FI industry. The highlighted companies in these tables were selected for the next data collection (case studies).

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Table 15: GA companies that participated in the interview study.

Company Employees Number Years in Business Location

VP 1-10 6-10 Gaborone

Table 16: FI companies that participated in the interview study.

Company Employees Number Years in Business Location

ED 1-10 0-2 Gaborone