Chris Rockwell: The mind of design from The PEP Talks on Vimeo.

Being curious and creative, seeing patterns, and envisioning the future. These are just some of the skills needed you need to determine what makes good design. Chris Rockwell talks about how successful design is rooted in understanding people’s experiences. 

One of the trends I’ve been following lately is the mechanics of game design.  Odds are you’ve played a game or two in your lifetime, admit it.  People of my demographic know games well, we’ve grown up with consoles and online gaming.  Our media is filled with its influence and innovation.  Currently, game play is being studied on multiple fronts to better understand the human interaction in virtual worlds.  Interaction is just the start, the real meaty data is all the behavioral and social aspects.

My special guest for this episode is Nick Yee a research scientist at the Palo Alto Research Center.  Nick has been pursuing his passion for understanding virtual worlds, specifically massively multi-player games for nearly his entire academic career.  He’s conducted numerous research studies, authored a dozen or more papers, and recently completed his PhD.

One project in particular, the Daedalus Project, caught my eye about two years ago.  The premise was fascinating and massively important- these people that play online games (like World of Warcraft), what do we know about them?  Who are they demographically? What are their motivations inside these online worlds, why do they go there, play there, create what often seems like “work” there?  Nick Yee and his colleagues have surveyed over 40,000 participants in online games like World of Warcraft.  Go back and look at that number again… FORTY THOUSAND.  Nice. 

This episode of Design Forty is one of the most juiciest slices of research interview commentary you’ll ever listen to.  Nick not only has the facts, he’s exploring the far reaches of these virtual worlds.  He’s sitting on the ground work that every game company on the planet should be studying and have in their pocket when it comes to understanding all the required game mechanics to make engagement for humans work in a virtual world. 

There’s a reason why games like EverQuest were called EverCRACK by its own fan base.  Addiction, engagement, satisfaction, achievement, reward, competition, [insert human behavioral/social aspect here] and odds are Nick has stumbled across it.  These learnings reach far beyond just games.  They can be applied to brands, products and services. 

There’s been few times I wanted to stretch beyond the 40 minute rule on this show, and talking with Nick was one of them. 

Tune in and enjoy. 

Strategic Targets: Establishing clear targets for the research can be tough - often manufacturers do not know their key customers (suppliers/service providers). It is best to thoroughly understand current business strategies up front.

Customer Relationships: Delicate relationships may exist between a manufacturer’s sales force and their customer. Careful handling of these relationships is key to a successful research project.

Recruiting: Recruiting respondents for B2B is significantly more intensive and challenging than an end consumer recruit. It is less likely that business participants have the availability to devote time to a research effort, or have the permission/desire to participate in a research effort. Because this is the case, creative recruiting techniques and relaxed screening criteria are sometimes required.

Compensation: Typically businesses being recruited look for benefit for their participation, and often times are not allowed to accept monetary/gift compensation. Showing insight into their current process or end consumer at no cost to them is often enough of a benefit to encourage participation.

Confidentiality: Confidentiality becomes paramount when gathering information from competing businesses. Businesses need to be assured that their company information/processes will not be shared with competitors.

Methodology: B2B methodologies need to be flexible and prioritized. Business participants often need to cut the time short, therefore it is necessary to know which data points are priorities.

The number one key to a successful B2B research endeavor is to set expectations with the client early and often. Challenges aside, if this research is done correctly, the manufacturer, their customer, and the end consumer can benefit greatly. It is worth the effort and we look forward to seeing what 2009 will mean for B2B research!

Listen to the Design Forty call on recruiting for B2B research here:

Online surveys, like those reported on, are just one hammer researchers have, but its likely that because of their flexibility, ease, and reach they’ve been used to hit too many nails. We’re at a point where technology has provided new and powerful ways to give the participant the control and freedom to appropriately express themselves and document their experiences and desires. We’re able to apply the principles or participatory research with available technology. People can now document themselves via audio, photo, or video recording, as well as do so when mobile or as needed, not fixed to a computer or their home. These tools create compelling experiences for the participant and provide rich, compelling data for the researcher. You don’t have to throw away your old hammer, but you should check out getting a couple new ones!

We need to be smarter about what we do, the choices we make, and the methods and tools we use. Of course this has always been our goal. As both researchers and designers (these roles are not mutually exclusive), we must increase our understanding of people’s aspirations and emotions and deliver actionable insights that move us from inspiration to fruition. We must also remember the importance of aligning all functional areas and roles to efficiently lead us to meaningful solutions. Now more than ever people are conscious of the choices they make, and it is in our best interest to exceed their expectations holistically ¬through every point of interaction with the products we evaluate and design.

We also find ourselves at a time where “need” is more a part of people’s vocabulary than “want,” and the line between consumer interests and social issues is blurring. It will be a challenge to deliver on people’s aspirations and desires in a way that also takes into account changing political and economic times. This is why we’re excited to put to work methodologies and practices we’ve been building ¬- such as participatory research and insight translation - to continue to bridge gaps between the public-facing world and the world of product and service development. Whether or not the ebb of this past year is coming back to shore, we now have the opportunity to make truly meaningful contributions to the consumer landscape, both to people’s lives and to the sustainability of our industry.

The ad has been removed from the company’s website, and an apology has been posted in its place.  Before it was taken down, the narrative, read by a 20-something mom, included lines like, “Wearing your baby seems to be in fashion… Plus, it totally makes me look like an official mom.” It ended with “… if I look tired and crazy, people will understand why.”

Many moms (this one included) were immediately offended at the tone of the ad.  I wear my baby because it’s fashionable? I don’t know what’s best for my baby?  I look tired and CRAZY??  Alright, I have five kids, so that last one may not be too far off the mark, but still… insulting me probably isn’t the best way to convince me to run out and buy Motrin.

Lesson #1: Pay attention to your target demographic

We moms are an emotional bunch.  We love our children fiercely, and want to do what’s best for them.  And because it seems everyone has an opinion about what’s “best,” we often must vehemently defend the choices we make.  Translation: we’re well versed in parenting philosophies, and we don’t make decisions lightly.  Positive or negative, intense reactions should be expected when playing in this space.  Blame it on hormones or sleep deprivation or the monumental responsibility of keeping another human being alive and well. Whatever it is, we don’t make flip decisions when it comes to our baby’s care.  To imply that we do is patronizing, and a good way to alienate us.

Had this ad run ten years ago, the lesson likely would have stopped there.  But today, things are different. 

Lesson #2: Not all press is good press

Moms talk.  A lot.  With family dispersed far and wide and neighborhoods that aren’t quite as neighborly as they used to be, we connect online.  We chat, we blog, we tweet.  And when something ticks us off, word travels fast.  The Motrin ad went live on their site Saturday morning, and by Saturday evening, it was the most tweeted subject on Twitter. 

If you’re targeting moms, you want Mommy Bloggers on your side.  Perhaps this is only my perception because I am a Mommy Blogger, but I would wager that we have the loudest voice on the web.  Smart companies use this to their advantage and engage us to do their advertising for them.  A couple of great examples are P&G and gDiapers.  In 2006, P&G armed some 600,000 moms with coupons and product samples and sent them out on a huge word-of-mouth campaign.  Similarly, gDiapers harnessed the enthusiasm their consumers have for their product and launched the “gMums/gDads” program that enlists parents as gDiapers advocates both online and in real life.

Moms are a huge target audience for a wide range of companies.  It would serve these companies well to get smart about who moms are today, what we’re passionate about, and what drives our decisions.  Get it wrong, and you’ll get the message loud and clear.

Our study concluded that the problem is real – from the County’s perspective the expected line lengths will likely be considerably longer than in 2004. From the voter’s perspective, it will be even harder and more frustrating to simply do your civic duty. The good news is that the county has taken action based on our study results. The county established in-person early voting, reallocated voting machines to areas of need, and reduced the amount of space allocated to ballot issues on voting machines. And importantly to the county, their decisions are based on solid data. According to Dennis L. White, director of the Franklin County Board of Elections, “We want voters to know there was some fair, serious method that went into [this year’s allocation of voting machines].” As opposed to previously, when “It was all gut instinct. Now, we’re using fair, defensible information.”

Lextant is certainly proud to have done our civic duty and are thankful for the many other efforts going on nationwide! Speaking of which, it never hurts reinforce that there is clearly ample opportunity to use the same expertise that our profession commonly applies to commercial products, services, and digital interactions to our public, social, and civic institutions. Drop a comment and tell us about other efforts you know of.