How to learn about people around the world… for free

First of all, there is no substitute for the real field work.

This been said, consider this: why should you wait for a client to ask you to research about users (aka people aka humans)?

I like to see how people do things, how people use stuff and how they relate to each other and their environment. I’m just that curious.

The thing is that being curious is not a currency you can use to wander through a mall in Japan or a street market in London, just to see the difference between them.
And following a deaf person or a firefighter all day long, is… well, plain stalking. Even dangerous, in the last case, I guess.

Since the GoPro madness and POV (Point of View) videos fever arrived to the Internet, peering into practically everything is much, much easier. Just enter Youtube and search something like “POV + [whatever]” or “GoPro + [whatever]”.

Say you are curious about how the whole airport thing works:

A walkthrough Manchester Airport terminal 1:

How to connect from terminal to gate:

A day in the life of a ramp agent:

And now, as seen from a suitcase point of view:

Or maybe you wonder how is it to commute if you are blind?:

(I tried the “being blind for an hour experiment”, and it is exhausting, btw).

Want to ride a Tesla?

And, of course, how cats see the world:

See? I told you it’s for free 🙂

Posted in Behavior Design, Research, Service Design

Unconventional books for designers: INSTANT KARMA, by Barbara Ann Kipfer

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Ultimately, design is always about change behavior. Whether it’s visual, interaction, physical or digital product or services, you want people to act one way or another: watch this movie, click this button, hold the cup this way, find your way in the airport…

The fact is that you need to know how behavior change happens. And your first source to experiment with is… yourself.

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Posted in Behavior Design, Books, Design

Synergy vs Serendipity

Synergy vs Serendipity

There are few words that have been so battered as synergy, or so freely interpreted as serendipity.

Nevertheless, their real meaning and the difference between them matters.

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Posted in Business Design, Consulting, Project Management, Strategy, versus Tagged with: ,

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