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design

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 [...]

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Categories: Blog · Research Methods · anthropology · design · ethnography · goffman · product design · qualitative research · sociology · technology design · user experience

Consumers are “time starved,” as many designers and marketers may know, but there is more to the story than simply not having enough time. The very concept of “down time” carries an important lesson about technology design.

In this post, I analyze the idea of “down time” and the activity of “cottaging” as a Canadian (and [...]

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Categories: Blog · anthropology · culture · design · home · interaction design · sociology · technology design · time · time use · user experience

Copernicus’s Sam Ladner is vying for coveted spot on the SXSW agenda. The topic: consumer culture.
SXSW “crowdsources” its panel picks. The organizers have devised a voting system, which (ostensibly) culls the least worthy panel ideas. (I say “ostensibly” because there is an interesting cultural element to this process, but that’s another blog post.) Please join [...]

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Categories: anthropology · culture · ethnography · market research

Lies are an important source of design insight. Design research ought to embrace lies as potential sources of creative inspiration. Lies are indicators of a gap between what we are and what we think we ought to be. Well-designed products soften and assuage the effects of this gap.
The other day, one interviewee asked me, near [...]

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Categories: Blog · anthropology · culture · design · ethnography · home · innovation · interaction design · market research · qualitative research · sociology

Yesterday, I attended Roger Martin’s presentation of his new book, The Design of Business, hosted at the Ontario College of Art and Design. Roger gave a brief overview of his book and then engaged in a dialogue with the host, Michael Dila, and members of the audience.
Roger explained that some organizations are better able to [...]

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