Mindmaps-Based Tool for Planning and Structuring Design Research Papers

Abstract

Research papers are a tremendous source of cutting edge knowledge. Writing a good research paper requires proper planning and structuring of paper, which often comes from experience. Planning and structuring the research paper is tedious for novice researchers due to the lack of a process that could assist novice researchers in planning and structuring their paper. We conducted workshops on writing research papers based on a generic framework to understand the mindset and problems faced by novice design researchers. Workshops provided us with helpful insights about how and what novice researchers think while writing research papers. We came up with a concept of using mindmaps that allows novice researchers to plan and structure the content of the research paper before writing the paper. It was observed that it reduced stress and anxiety around organizing the contents of a paper while writing it and researchers could focus more on the language of the paper while writing it. This directly increases the quality of a paper in terms of its language and narration.