[IxDA Discuss] Design research

[Dan Saffer]

On May 9, 2007, at 7:09 AM, Mark Schraad wrote:

> Did Dan just give designers with limited experience justification  
> for blowing off research or testing? I am quite certain, that is  
> not the intended message, but it is a concern. I guess I am not  
> sure what the purpose of this article is. Experienced, confident  
> designers with domain expertise and good sense of "hunch", likely  
> don't need to be told that this is OK. They know.

The point of the article was to run counter to the dogma that is  
currently in vogue: namely that research is needed on every project,  
all the time. Which is nonsense, especially for in-house designers  
working on projects in which the users and subject area are well-known.

I would content that even designers with limited experience can have  
good hunches. I've worked alongside some amazing, talented designers  
with limited experience whose hunches were great. And I've followed  
them.


> There is so much time and money wasted in product and service  
> design. Business schools quote numbers of 70 - 80% of all new  
> products fail. This is a horrible waste of resources. Surely... we  
> can do better. One way to effectively improve the odds is to  
> meaasure the intended audience or target market. Research is a  
> great start at this. Even if the research confirms your hunches, it  
> is likely worth the time.

I'm not sure this is true. Vista: 3 years of user research. OS X:  
None. Just for one example.

Research can improve our hunches, but it isn't a substitute for them.


Dan