Clues around how best to design for your customers are abundant…
…if you know where and how to look
Right tool for the job
Each study is carefully planned to fit and deliver on the objectives of the project.
An approach right for the; market, context, moments, interfaces and activities to learn from.
I see time spent with customers as an investment, so take a creative, nuanced approach to gaining maximum insight and value to the business.
Research runs in a spectrum (L-R) from strategic and generative through to more tactical, evaluative work.
Field research is best employed, and most valuable, at the front end of this spectrum, when it’s sometimes referred to as ‘discovery phase’ design research. Insights gained early and upfront reflect peoples’ needs, often fundamental truths with enduring shelf life.
Right mode for the moment
Regardless of the timing, I’m biased towards the method which gets me (and you if possible) closer to the customers’ context and the way they experience your product or service.
Visual narratives
I use compelling video documentary and engaging large format visuals to convey in seconds the nuance of your customers’ world, their emotions, connections and interactions in what otherwise might be a loooong story.
These visuals start the types of conversations around which consensus it built and decisions are made.
This approach has become a signature to my engagements, proving so effective some clients have requested my videos and visual narrative as a standalone service to support research conducted by their own internal teams.