An interesting article in Business Week looks at how ad agencies should be connecting clients with their consumers. The article goes on to cite how design agencies (IDEO & ZIBA) are better placed to understand consumer behaviour and identify unmet needs through ethnographic research.
Tagged: Ethnography, Research Method and user research
I have just started reading Bill Moggridge’s ‘Designing Interactions’ which takes the reader on a fascinating journey. Designers have written chapters on our interactions with both products and services, which they have helped to create. I’m particularly looking forward to the chapters on Services and People & Protoypes.
Tagged: Reading
The Times has published a short article on observational research aka ethnography - mainstream corporations such as Nokia and consultancies such as IDEO are using ethnography to help drive their product/service/innovation processes. “I’ve got a fair idea of what you’re carrying in your pockets,” Jan Chipchase says, somewhat ominously. “I spend a lot of time rooting around in people’s bags. And fridges.” So goes the opening gambit of a self-described “professional, authorised stalker”. Employed by Nokia, the largest mobile phone maker, he tracks human behaviour around the world to help to design the phones of the future.” Read more here.
Tagged: Ethnography, Research Method and user research
A recent Harvard Business Review article explores whether customer communities pay. Working with eBay Germany they identified approximately 140,000 customers who had not participated in eBay’s online communities. Out of this group some 79,000 customers were invited to become members - incentives were offered. Some 3,300 members of this group became active community members and some 11,000 became lurkers. The research team compared the behaviour of these two groups vs the control group who weren’t invited to join. They noted “lurkers and community enthusiasts bid twice as often as members of the control group, won up to 25% more auctions, paid final prices that were as much as 24% higher…” To find out more click here.
Published in 2004 the Department of Trade and Industry’s report ‘Innovation through people centred design - lessons from the USA’ is definitely worth reading. A team of UK based design researchers and others visited leading design/research/strategy companies including Jump, Cheskin, IDEO and SonicRim and in-house design teams at Intel, Nike and BMW to learn about people centred design.
Tagged: Innovation and People
A little dated (2005) but nevertheless an interesting listen. Anthropologists and other researchers are interviewed about the role which ethnography can play in the commercial world.
Guests included Dr Simon Roberts from Ideas Bazaar; Paul Eden from Ogilvy and Mather, Genevieve Bell from Intel; Professor Patrick Barwise from the
To listen again visit the BBC website.
Tagged: Ethnography
An interesting article on the BBC’s website looks at a mobile phone, the ‘Life Phone’ created by Emporia. The ‘Life Phone ‘has been introduced for the 50+ demographic.
Features include a built in emergency button, which when pressed will dial one of five programmed emergency contact numbers, a large screen and a loud speaker.
Tagged: Demographics and Mobile Technology
iinnovate is a great resource where visitors can listen to and download podcasts about innovation and entrepreneurship. iinnovate is run by two students from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and Institute of Design.
Guest ‘podcasters’ include:
Visit iinnovate.
Tagged: Innovation
