Design Research and Strategy
Hugh Dubberly and Paul Pangaro had a great post on Interactions magazine about designing for conversations. They propose to use how a conversation actually works to make interactions better. They rely heavily on Claude Shannon’s conversation model to help guide the conceptual model of interaction designs.
In Shannon’s model an information source selects a message [...]
Categories: design · discourse analysis · ethnography · qualitative research · technology design
I’m currently forming research questions for an ethnography of Toronto-based technology and design workers. I am working through this question: is Twitter a “place”?
In her 2000 book Virtual Ethnography, Christine Hine argues that there are two analytic strategies to see “cyberspace.” First, one can view it as a “place,” where social norms emerge. Or second, [...]
Categories: design · ethnography · product design · qualitative research · social media · technology design · user experience
I am currently teaching a Research Design and Qualitative Methods course at Ryerson University. This is a core course for an interdisciplinary group of students, from social work, to business, to psychology, to sociology to…well you get the picture.
I will be uploading slides from my lectures regularly. See them all at:
http://www.slideshare.net/sladner
I have toyed with adding [...]
Categories: Research Methods · design · qualitative research · quantitative research · technology design · user experience
What do product designers need to know about their end-user? This post provides a broad-stroke overview of the kinds of questions you should answer before you design a new product, particularly new technology products.
The “value orientation model” of anthropology is a great starting point for product design. Your product has to fit within a person’s [...]
Categories: Research Methods · product design · qualitative research · technology design
One poor decision in technology design can lead to a cascading failure for the user experience. One poor decision in the design process can lead to users having no control over the technology. Case in point: the electronic fetal monitor (EFM). Critics argue it is more technology than is needed, leads to more Caesarian sections, [...]
Categories: design · product design · technology design · user experience