Every few years, I try to improve my own product. Prompted by a sense of dissatisfaction with my clothing, I clean out and rebuild my wardrobe. I fill a trash bag with clothes to be donated, and feel accomplished as I look at my newly spacious closet. Each time I do this I’m convinced that I’ve solved the problem, only to be faced with that same problem again within a year or two. Read more
contextual inquiry
This blog post is part two of a two-part series on using video records in contextual inquiry. Read more
This blog post is part one of a two-part series on using video records in contextual inquiry. Read more
At Design Science, our research most often focuses on the environments of medical professionals—ORs, cath labs, clinics. Yet some of the most rewarding research I have conducted here has involved visiting patients’ homes. Accompanied by a videographer, I’ve traveled past cornfields and baseball diamonds to meet families that are coping with serious conditions and investigate how they are wielding. Read more
Check out Design Science founder Steve Wilcox's thoughts on ethnography, prototyping, the FDA, and more through TechnologyAdvice’s TA Expert Interview Series. Read more
While Design Science is most well known for its experience in conducting ethnographic research at medical facilities, a growing number of our projects provide opportunities for us to venture outside of the hospital and apply our methodologies to the study of non-medical products. As a field researcher I have had the chance to participate in a number of “unconventional” projects that took me to. Read more
A new guidance for medical-device field research has just been released: the Technical Information Report, AAMI TIR51:2014, "Human factors engineering – Guidance for contextual inquiry." Read more