The ‘Rich Pictures’ method: its use and value, and the implications for HRD research and practice

Embracing new and innovative qualitative methods has helped researchers in a number of fields to access aspects of the lived experience that traditional methods cannot easily reach. This paper explores the use and value of one such method – ‘rich pictures’: a technique whose origins lie in ‘soft systems’ engineering but which has been successfully applied in a broader range of contexts in recent years including health, medicine and education. Despite its use in these disciplines, however, recent studies suggest that HRD research continues to rely on established methods and that uptake of visual methods – and ‘rich pictures’ in particular – is virtually non-existent. The aim of this paper therefore is to shed light on this underused method and encourage HRD researchers to recognize its potential for studying human development.