Family Health International (fhi), provides a book on qualitative research methods full text online. As a companion to the practitioner in the field it covers instructions for participant observation, in-depth interviewing, focus groups and data management.
This how-to guide covers the mechanics of data collection for applied qualitative research. It is appropriate for novice and experienced researchers alike. It can be used as both a training tool and a daily reference manual for field team members. Its question and answer format and modular design make it easy for readers to find information on a particular topic quickly. [Direct Download, via ]
The research product gap – and two kinds of innovation: Donald Norman makes some good points in his talk at the design research conference this year. He already challenged the community with his provocative statements on design research (’Technology first, needs last’) in an article in the Interactions Magazine (March/ April 2010). – I do agree with him in most of what he is saying: We design researchers need to bridge the gap between research and company product divisions (ie. marketing, engineering, etc.). A common language is needed in order to accomplish results in real products which are based on our user insights.
It’s an elaborate speech, well structured. Nonetheless I would have expected Norman to talk more about solutions to this apparent problem than just to repeat and explain what is already known to be a problem. A similar debate is ongoing for years among anthropologists who want to make their field more applicable and to gain a wider public audience [1, 2, 3].
Ergonautek meets academia: Last week I followed the invitation of Mario Giudici, Daniel Hunziker (Human Centered Design, Basel) and Andy Polaine to hold a guest lecture at Fachhochschule Luzern/ Switzerland. For the seminar I met a group of well prepared and highly motivated design management students – all of them eager to take a deep dive into design research methodology.
ergonautek guest lecture at Fachhochschule Luzern
The topic was ‘un-design through service design’ – How might we nudge behaviours and develop new services that allow us to move beyond simple consumerism? During the seminar the students were asked to examine the products and consumption in their lives and “un-design” them using service design approaches in order to reduce or remove their negative environmental and ethical impacts on the world.
With my lecture on video as a method for design research I contributed to the method section of the seminar. With telling examples paired with theory and practical exercises I passed on the ergonautek knowledge to the students on using video for design research. Although the seminar was packed with practical hints and activities it seemed to be fun and interesting to all of the participants. For me it got especially exciting when the students presented their results from a tiny field study which they conducted at the end of the day. The video material from these studies highlighted the difficulties people can have while interacting with services. With this input on using video for design research the students got a powerful method at hand for their upcoming student’s projects. Wish you good luck for this, guys!
Analysing the field material and preparing short highlight clips
Yesterday the IxDA-Munich group met up again at their usual venue at IDEO for a relaxed gathering with beer and snacks. This time it was me setting the stage and facilitating a workshop session. The theme was …at no surprise… user engagement or how to get users into the company. I wanted to provoke a discussion and to hear stories on how users are actually included in the product and service development in different companies. After a warm up activity people teamed up in three groups and approached the topic from different sides – from the perspective of a consulting agency, a service provider and a large product manufacturer.
First I asked the participants to reflect on a r&d process as it most likely would take place in their company. In a second step the workshop participants were asked to make up a more ideal process. What methods for user research would they like to employ, how and at what stage of the process?
Participants sketch an imaginary and idealized r&d cycle.
It was a fun activity for most of the IxDA members yesterday I guess. Even though some participants seemed to be rather disenchanted with their particular company policy on user engagement ;) Check out the workshop results on the IxDA Munich page on LinkedIn.
To those interested in joining our group: Munich’s interaction designers meet up every six weeks for either a social gathering in a bar or beergarden or for a more formal presentation or workshop at IDEO/ Hochbrückenstraße 6. See the IxDA Munich website for the latest news and announcements.
