A quote by Donald Rumsfeld, taken out of context, which is relevant for user researchers:
“As we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns - the ones we don’t know we don’t know. And if one looks throughout the history of our country and other free countries, it is the latter category that tend to be the difficult ones.”
It’s in the last area, the unknown unknowns, where the greatest challenges lie and after conducting initial research this category of ‘challenge/opportunity’ often appears.
Story telling in all its different forms is an important tool which researchers use to bring to life data gathered in the field, it’s particularly for people who didn’t take part in the field research.
There’s an interesting article on BBC News on how traditional story telling is under threat in Morocco, where this ‘oral tradition’ of sharing past experiences is particularly important as 40% of Moroccans are illiterate.
Harvard Business School’s Working Knowledge has a short publication written by Professor Lynda M. Applegate on how ‘disruptive’ forces of change in the business environment can be used as a platform to help ‘jump start innovation’. Some of the forces of change noted in the article include:
Ofcom have published an interesting report on Voice Over Internet Protocol. “An estimated 2.4m UK households have used a VoIP service, VoIP usage is more common among younger adults (15-44s) than older adults…People in the ABC1 socio-economic group are more likely to use VoIP than those in the C2DE group…”
A short report published by the Design Council which is worth reading. The report is based on a visit carried out by UK academics and policy wonks to American universities and companies looking at business and design. You can watch a short video below on design thinking recorded during their visit.
