Small Studies

Your curiosity matters.

Follow the things you’re thinking about toward meaningful art, research & impact.

Small Studies is a framework for transforming abstract ideas into meaningful art and research through a structured, curiosity-driven process.

Start a Small Study or find out more →

Your curiosity is trying to tell you something.

Those problems you keep noticing, the questions that won't leave you alone, the possibilities you dream about — they're pointing toward work that needs to be done.

Small Studies help you listen to your curiosity and turn it into action and impact.

Who are Small Studies for?

→ Make Work That Matters

Artists & Makers

Your creative practice can do more than express - it can create change. Small Studies helps you integrate systematic inquiry into your making process, turning your artistic insights into work that serves others while deepening your practice.

→ Research That Reaches People

Researchers

Your research deserves to make a difference beyond academia. Small Studies shows you how to make your work more accessible and creative while maintaining its rigor, helping you reach and impact the communities you study.

→ Turn Noticing Into Doing

Curious Minds

Your observations and questions aren't just random thoughts - they're pointing toward meaningful work. Small Studies gives you a clear framework to transform what you notice into manageable projects that create real change.

→ Untangle Your Ideas to Focus

Overflowing Minds

When your mind is full of ideas, it can feel impossible to know where to begin. Small Studies helps you gently sort through what's pulling at you, guiding you to follow your curiosity without forcing clarity too soon. One question, one experiment—until something new emerges.

What’s the Process of a Small Study?

1. Notice

→ What is your starting observation?

Begin by paying attention to the world around you and within you. What are you noticing? What keeps coming up in your mind? What feels strange, frustrating, beautiful, or surprising? This could be something happening in your own life, in the world around you, or even a small pattern you keep returning to.

2. Feel the Spark

→ Make a judgement about that observation.

Once you’ve honed in on one observation, what sparks your interest or concern the most about it? This is where you make a judgment—deciding what feels worth following. What observation feels alive to you right now? Why does it matter to you personally? You can frame the thing as a problem, as a hypothesis, or even an argument you’d like to make.

3. Name Your Aim

→ What do you want to contribute?

What do you want to do with this spark? Do you want to understand something better? Tell a story? Imagine alternatives? Offer a new way of seeing? Your aim gives the project its overall direction without locking you into a specific outcome.

4. Craft a Guiding Question

→ What do you want to explore?

Now it’s time to shape your curiosity into a focused question or hypothesis that will guide your exploration. Your question can be open-ended or specific, practical or philosophical. The key is that it invites exploration rather than closure.

5. Choose Your Approach

→ How do you want to answer your question?

Do you want to talk to people, make something with your hands, dig into existing research, or reflect on your own experience? Your approach could lean toward formal research methods, creative practice, or something entirely your own.

6. Identify & Make Your Final Product

→ What will you share?

As you explore, what new form of knowledge is emerging? What tangible form will your discoveries take? Identify the product that best expresses what you've found—whether it's a map, a zine, a quilt, a story, an essay, a playlist, or something else entirely—and begin creating it. This is where the small study takes shape as a tangible expression of what you’ve discovered.

7. Share & Reflect

→ Who is this knowledge for?

Is it just for you, or could it spark something in others? Could the new knowledge you’ve created help someone? What’s the best way to share what you've made? Sharing could mean publishing, hosting a small gathering, or simply reflecting on what the process gave you.

Wanna see an example?

(write a story here about a small study) I was constantly working on architecting and designing solutions that made healthcare accessible, comprehensible and delightful for Rounds' customers, users, and the care team.

In particular, I led the research and design to solve the problem of making insurance plans comprehensible for over 500K patients. This was a complex project that required a lot of careful planning and execution.

Small Study Gallery

Posts Database

Gallery view

Small Study #2

Dec 7, 2022

Buildsite

Learn about the basics of Photoshop

Small Study #1