Design Research and Strategy
From the monthly archives:
Designers don’t really see themselves as playwrights but in reality, designers are writing scripts – complete with stage directions – for every user. And like all actors, what users really want to do is direct.
The French government learned this the hard way. In a fit of charity, the government decided Africa needed electric light. Noting [...]
Categories: Research Methods · design scripts · product design · technology design
Ethnography is bandied about frequently in business and design circles these days. And sadly, like many buzz words, its true meaning has been lost in its popularity. Let me start by saying ethnography is hot today because it provides you insight you can’t get from being far away from your target users.
Ethnographic research evolved out [...]
Categories: Research Methods · ethnography · methods
Recently the blogosphere blew up over a post by Danah Boyd about classes on MySpace versus Facebook. Boyd contended that each site appealed to differing economic classes. Facebook has a “cleaner” look, some people argued, making it “higher class.” What does that even mean? Well designers, here’s what you need to know about class.
In his [...]
Categories: bourdieu · class · luxury goods · product design · qualitative research