interaction design

The essence of qualitative research: “verstehen”

by Sam Ladner on October 15, 2009 · 15 comments

“But how many people did you talk to?” If you’ve ever done qualitative research, you’ve heard that question at least once. And the first time? You were flummoxed. In 3 short minutes, you can be assured that will never happen again.
Folks, qualitative research does not worry about numbers of people; it worries about deep understanding. [...]

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Tagged as: anthropology, linkedin, organizations, qualitative, qualitative research, quantitative, quantitative research, sample size, sociology, thick description, verstehen

Organizational culture 101: a practical how-to for designers

by Sam Ladner on September 8, 2009 · 0 comments

in anthropology, culture, facebook, interaction design, product design, qualitative research, sociology, technology design

My article on understanding organizational culture is now up on the interaction design site, Johnny Holland. The post provides an overview of key factors in organizational culture and how these factors affect an organization’s culture. It’s specifically intended to help designers understand their clients’ business culture and to avoid the all-too-common trap of “missing the [...]