product design

New handset, new life: smartphone upgrades and new tech adoption

by Sam Ladner on July 12, 2011 · 3 comments

in Blog, anthropology, culture, design, ethnography, home, market research, mobile, product design, qualitative research, sociology, technology design

Two of us at Copernicus (Sarah and I) are working on a project, funded through Ryerson University, on smartphone usage. One of the key findings we’ve uncovered so far is that people tend to adopt new communication channels (e.g., text) when they purchase new handsets. This new handset/life change correlation is a symbolic ritual that [...]

3 comments

Tagged as: consumption, culture, mobile

Categories: Blog · anthropology · culture · design · ethnography · home · market research · mobile · product design · qualitative research · sociology · technology design

Mobile Insights: what do people do with their phones?

by Sam Ladner on May 20, 2011 · 2 comments

in Blog, anthropology, culture, design, ethnography, home, market research, mobile, product design, qualitative research, sociology

I’m thrilled to be managing a research project on mobile technology use through a fellowship at the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University. I’ve assembled a research team and we have started initial research. Our “ethnographic stretching” exercise lead to some interesting insights:
“Attachment Paradox”: More than one person we talked to said that [...]

2 comments

Tagged as: anthropology, design, ethnography, mobile, sociology

Categories: Blog · anthropology · culture · design · ethnography · home · market research · mobile · product design · qualitative research · sociology

Putting customers into sizing: a revolution in fashion?

by Sam Ladner on April 25, 2011 · 4 comments

in Blog, anthropology, culture, design, product design, sociology, women

The bane of many women’s existence appeared in today’s New York Times: irregular clothing sizes. The journalist interviewed one young woman who complained about irregular sizing:
“I can be anywhere from a 0 at Ann Taylor to a 6 at American Eagle,” she said. “It obviously makes it difficult to shop.”
The woman used a body scanner, [...]

4 comments

Tagged as: clothing, culture, fashion, linkedin, product design, women

Categories: Blog · anthropology · culture · design · product design · sociology · women

The Normativity of Mike Holmes

by Sam Ladner on October 15, 2010 · 1 comment

in Blog, anthropology, culture, design, home, market research, product design, sociology

I am a new home owner. Like many new home owners, I am both fascinated and repelled by the most terrifying show on television: Holmes on Homes. This show demonstrates a key aspect to understanding social life: normativity or what “should be.”
For those unfamiliar with the show, allow me to summarize the narrative arc of [...]

1 comment

Tagged as: culture, design, home, linkedin

Categories: Blog · anthropology · culture · design · home · market research · product design · sociology

Proposed research project on mobile phones: comments needed!

by Sam Ladner on October 12, 2010 · 8 comments

in Blog, Research Methods, anthropology, design, ethnography, goffman, product design, qualitative research, sociology, technology design, user experience

I am currently writing a grant proposal for a research project on mobile phones. This is the (very) short version:
All too often, technology designers create systems that unwittingly expose social actors to socially awkward situations. Companies like Facebook struggle to satisfy their users’ needs to present different selves in different social contexts. The dreaded “My [...]