There are a lot of forces, some recent and some historical, that work against talking with real people during user research. The rise of synthetic users is the most recent and perhaps the most powerful. But even when considering the apparent efficiency and cost-effectiveness of synthetic users, we still advocate talking with real people.

Suppose you’ve reached the point where you’re interested in visually mapping your product, service, or experience. Yet, you or a person in power might ask, before committing fully to a mapping adventure  “What benefit does all this visual committing mapping bring?”

Research gives way to maps, which help bring events into human scale. But maps aren’t the end-point of design, but the beginning. Maps help build understanding, consensus, and vision.

I keep urging myself, when I stall before acting, to just do an experiment, and try something out. Whether the experiments I run have the formalisms of the lab, or are just an experimental sketch on a sheet of paper; it’s the impetus that counts.

Reach dental pick flosser is simple product that can help us unpack the value of end-to-end product, service and experience design. And it can show the wider universe of questions that an end-to-end design perspective introduces. It’s nice to use a simple, everyday product for this purpose because they serve as an easier-to-understand proxy for larger and more complex products and services. In a period of design narrowing, it’s important to remember why we strive for an end-to-end view.

In our rush as product, service and experience improvers, it’s easy sometimes to get lost in the detail. We sprint out of the gate to do great research, draw experience maps, construct prototypes, test ideas and release pilots into the world. But it’s worth taking a moment to remember, albeit briefly, what Experience Design is, what it isn’t, and how it helps us make things better (and make better things).

Why are we at Cognitive Ink still avoiding significant use of auto-insight tools? It might seem like a contentious choice, but there’s a logic behind our choice. And it all comes down to getting in sync with what people share. 

Some time ago, I had the opportunity to shadow someone selling products directly to end-customers. While helping, I conducted some on-the-ground ethnography on how people interacted with what was being offered. The experience got me thinking about the significant planning and structure teams put into gathering feedback on products and services.

A service can radically alter how it’s experienced by changing how it communicates. Communicating kindly and clearly can make for a better experience, even in difficult moments.

In the world of product, service and experience design, we conduct research and run experiments to solve the right problem, for the right people and for the right reasons. Evidence exists to help us understand how and why something works, and therefore to make better and clearer decisions.