Design Research and Strategy
My column in University Affairs has finally been published. In it, I argue that social scientists have both practical and moral reasons to seek out work in the business world:
Social scientists can improve business outcomes by doing what they’ve been trained to do: examine the social practices around the product or service. We are studying [...]
Categories: Blog · Popular · home · management · organizations · sociology
I recently gave a guest lecture to the Master’s of Design students at OCADU on how to research culture. Don’t worry if you missed it, because you can now listen to the same lecture and get the presentation!
Below is the audio and presentation from that lecture. Are you interested in more? Consider Culture Coaching, a new [...]
Categories: Blog · anthropology · culture · design · home · methods · qualitative research · sociology
Copernicus Consulting is pleased to announce that its founder and Principle, Dr. Sam Ladner, will be conducting research with Dr. Catherine Middleton at Ryerson University’s Ted Rogers School of Management. Dr. Ladner will lead the research on the social effects of mobile phones and work/life balance.
“I’m thrilled be working with Catherine on this project,” Dr. [...]
Categories: Popular · Research Methods · ethnography · mobile · qualitative research · 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 [...]
Categories: Blog · anthropology · culture · design · home · market research · product design · sociology
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 [...]
Categories: Blog · Research Methods · anthropology · design · ethnography · goffman · product design · qualitative research · sociology · technology design · user experience