Independent resource / nbdaasia.com
The research notebook.
A sequence for turning an interest in business or design into a clear question, a traceable source record and a proportionate conclusion.
1. Write the question
State what you want to understand in one sentence. Identify whether you are exploring a design decision, a service experience, a business model or another defined subject.
Name the intended use of the note. A personal learning exercise, a team discussion and a published analysis may need different levels of depth and review.
2. Define the context
Record the places, sectors, audiences and periods relevant to the question. Explain why those boundaries are useful and which neighbouring questions fall outside the brief.
Keep the context specific enough to guide source selection. If the question still treats a broad region as one uniform setting, narrow it before proceeding.
3. Build the source ledger
For each source, record the original author or organisation, publication context and date where available. Add a precise note of what it supports and a locator that lets you return to the material.
Mark whether your note is a direct observation, a reported claim or your own interpretation. Keep those distinctions visible when you later combine material from several sources.
4. Choose comparison dimensions
Decide what features make the examples meaningfully comparable. A service comparison might examine stages in a journey; a design comparison might examine purpose, audience and constraints.
Use the same dimensions for each example, but do not hide missing information or differences that affect the comparison. Record where the evidence is incomplete.
5. Draft in three layers
Begin with description: what is present in the source. Follow with comparison: how the examples relate under the chosen lens. Finish with implication: what that relationship suggests for the question.
Keep the implication close to the evidence. If the wording moves from a specific example to a claim about a whole place or industry, identify the extra evidence that would be required.
6. Review the language and attribution
Check names, terms, source references and any quotations against the original material. Make sure attribution remains clear when a sentence combines your interpretation with someone else’s statement.
Look for stereotypes, unexplained assumptions and regional shortcuts. Replace them with a specific observation or remove the claim where the research does not support it.
7. Keep the open questions
Add a short note of what remains uncertain, what material was unavailable and which further source would be most useful. This is part of the research record rather than a flaw to conceal.
Finish with a takeaway that answers the original question at the scale the evidence allows. Keep the ledger with the note so that the argument remains reviewable.