Jonas Pfeil made this 360 degree camera, which will be a great tool one day for 3D mapping.
http://jonaspfeil.de/ballcamera
See video here:
Editor's note: This post for the April ‘Ethnomining‘ edition comes from Rachel Shadoan and Alicia Dudek. Following on the past posts about hybrid methods, this one features another interesting case study involving an on-line role-playing game. Their work correspond to a different approach, based on visualizations, than what we saw in the two previous posts.
Hey c'mon everybody! And READ! Rachel wrote this about our badass project from back in the Masters day! Hooray!
This video succinctly sums up my approach to my professional activities and methods.
- This is the best blog out there for getting stuck in to real ethnographic work that is going on around the world. It contains a variety of ways to digest the information and a smattering of suggestions for further reading: http://ethnographymatters.net/
- Wonderful article about the ins and outs of doing high level deep ethnographic inquiry for corporations. Includes some details on ReD Associates methods and philosophy. Love the part about asking the old woman about her condition by saying, “How would I feel if I had this condition.” http://m.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/03/anthropology-inc/309218/
- An oldie but a goodie, and article from 2004 about Ogilvy Discovery and their space as ethnos in love with deep inquiry, in the advertising high flyers industry: http://www.fastcompany.com/48949/every-move-you-make
- If you are looking to make a strong argument against traditional market research methods… this is the article for you. “I have developed a 7-step process shedding human insight on how idea becomes action: 1) Interrupt the Pattern, 2) Create Comfort, 3) Lead the Imagination, 4) Shift the Feeling, 5) Satisfy the Critical Mind, 6) Change the Associations, and 7) Take Action.” This article is a bit snarky and I definitely don’t agree with everything it says, but it sure does make you think. http://www.fastcocreate.com/1682193/im-not-your-consumer-how-research-misses-the-human-behind-the-demographic
- A book I haven’t read but plan to, becuase it sounds so darned juicy: http://www.amazon.com/How-Users-Matter-Co-Construction-Technology/dp/0262651092/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358868100&sr=8-1&keywords=How+Users+Matter
Why agile can be good for user experience By John Waterworth
Nice succinct article about agile UX…
Main points include:
- Earlier integration and test helps create better user experiences
- Self-contained teams produce better products faster
- The product roadmap provides the big picture
- Agile does not mean ‘no documentation’
“So…
I know that it’s possible for UX and agile to work well together. But you need the right conditions:
- UX specialists are part of the agile team
- The team has a clear product vision rooted in a real understanding of the customer
- UX specialists create stories and interface sketches in collaboration with other team members
- It’s not ‘done’ till you’ve tried it out with real users”
“We also know that getting started is often the key barrier. There is nothing like a complex effort that involves many stakeholders–with different agendas–to stifle progress. With that in mind, an alternative to the formal-change management approach is to start small and focus on a series of questions that can be addressed one by one. A new year provides a prime opportunity to take that first step, pick one or more questions from the list below in no particular order, bring the team together, find some caffeine, and get started now. There’s no excuse to wait–OK is just not OK anymore.” http://www.fastcompany.com/3003947/customer-experience-just-ok-not-ok
I design and conduct people focused research, in order to extract insights which are used to direct impactful strategic change. It can be real world or digital. It can be tiny or huge, but if there is a problem or an opportunity I can guarantee that people are involved, and what I do best is figure out what they want, need, and hate so that we can all make better decisions.
If I was one to have things tattooed upon my body I believe this would be one of those things.
“You cannot get insights from dead people… go caffeinate.”
I am neck deep in writing a report that I love, hate, and can’t get enough of either way. I have gone native in my subject pool and have such empathy for the wonderful farmers of Australia that it could be construed as silly. Lucky for me that is what people want me to do, and they pay me to do it strategically, intelligently, and most important to transform it into actionable and useful information.
For some strange reason while taking a “break” on “Facebook” I came across a post of this letter which even more strangely just seemed to epitomize my mood deep in the depths of this report…
