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Our observations of the world around us
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Casual Data
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About a month ago, Dan Rockwell and I finished writing an article for interactions magazine about Casual Data, the term we’ve used to describe rich data propagated or mined via some form of social media. The piece defines Casual Data, talks briefly about why it’s becoming so prevalent, and then proceeds to identify current ways it’s being used and what that means to the fields of design and research. It will be out in a spring 2010 issue of interactions, however, here’s a sneak peek at some of the data nugget goodness:
The problem with too much data
While there are a number of firms analyzing the surface value of casual data, there is a need dig deeper to understand context and higher-level implications. The more connected we become, the more connected our data becomes, and the more we need a structured approach for making sense of it.Companies having loads of customer data available is not news, however this casual data is not quantitative in nature (demographics, pattern-focused). The emotional meaning behind casual data should not be analyzed statistically, and the methods used to gain this data are as important to understand as the data itself. If customer voice is only harvested through an existing medium (e.g. submitting a query for iPhone-related tweets) the results you get will be brief and will tend to either be of intense glee: “new iPhone copy/paste function, thank GOD” or intense distaste: “Apple sucks!” – leaving little room for understanding context of use, while still providing good touch-points for product improvement. There is the potential of casual data being more dangerous than helpful if not properly understood.
(see a bigger image here)Ok, so what’s our role?
The need to find long-term meaning via any quick casual data-farming medium creates a niche opportunity for research firms to use their proven techniques to analyze and understand this abundance of user input. Professional researchers will be able to understand how casual data is useful, where it is applicable and where there are still unanswered (and often unasked) questions. This will allow research companies to reinforce doing more in-depth research as a result of learnings from this data, rather than allowing clients to use this data (which is often incomplete) as conclusive.Even tools that have built-in analysis capabilities cannot play down the importance of involving a comprehensive research process. Design researchers look at data to understand not only design opportunities but also to come up with high-level emotional themes. If 10 people say that they want a certain feature from pampers.com, what does that mean in terms of their needs, and how will they benefit from that feature? Extrapolating concepts, ideas and feedback into themes can help the design team understand trends and potential meta-themes, and consequently how to design new products and services that weren’t necessarily articulated by their customers. Researchers also have the opportunity to help companies understand how to manage all of this data – does it need to lend itself to searching by future company stakeholders, or will it be regenerated? Having a plan for where the data goes can increase the value attained from it, and help to track trends over time.
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5 Things for Great Experience Design
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Last week I attended a local TechColumbus Business Breakfast on Enhancing the Consumer Experience Through Technology and Design. There were 5 panelists, a wealth of good info and lots of Q&A amongst the 70 or so participants in attendance. Our own president Chris Rockwell was panel and gave a talk on 5 Things for Great Experience Design. Here is his presentation. Watch and enjoy.
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Reminder- Catch & Release This Saturday
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Capturing & Understanding Human Experiences:
Catch & Release is a workshop taking you through the process of developing a user-centered design research study: from developing a methodology to gathering and analyzing qualitative insights. Through collaboration with inter-disciplinary teams, Interaction Designers and Industrial Designers will learn and work together and through a shared experience, gain a better understanding of one another’s perspectives.
When: This coming Saturday, September 19th, 9:00am to noon
Breakfast is included.Where: Lextant (The Smith Brother’s Hardware Building) 580 North Fourth Street, Suite 610 Columbus 43215
Please RSVP for the event by emailing
$15 IxDA & IDSA members, $20 non-members, $10 students
Payment: cash or check (at the door)
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