Rachel Hinman’s Latest Essay: “Demystifying Data Analysis”
Rachel Hinman, design strategist at Adaptive Path, recently published an in-depth, explanatory essay on data analysis. Below is a quick excerpt or read the full essay.
“A-ha Moments?”
I always get a little miffed when I hear user-experience folk describe their data analysis process as looking for “a-ha moments.” It seems like an evasive answer to a simple process question. But more importantly, it leaves one with the impression that coming up with research insights is an experience of epiphany, like Newton sitting under the apple tree discovering gravity.
In a recent talk about his current book, The Myths of Innovation, Scott Berkun emphasized that humans love stories of epiphanies because they diminish the sweat-effort, failure, and plain old hard work that goes into coming up with something that is truly innovative. He explained how the story of Newton sitting under the apple tree conveniently de-emphasizes his 15 years of dedication and study to the subject.
Similarly, “a-ha” moments seem like an easy epiphany story; and that at the end of all your field interviews, research insights will come to you like apples falling from a tree. In truth, the end of field interviews leaves most teams with a mountain of videotapes, transcripts, and digital photos — and the daunting task of translating it all into something that is insightful, thought-provoking, and actionable…
Adaptive Path is En Route to Philadelphia — See You at MX East
We’re headed to Philadelphia for MX East, our managing experience through creative leadership conference, October 21-23 at Normandy Farm. If you haven’t signed up yet, it is not too late! Register with discount code “NEWS” for an additional 15% off of the conference’s cost.
We’re #6 in the Top 100 User-centered Blogs
A VirtualHosting.com article, Top 100 User-centered Blogs, just honored our blog as #6 for user-centered discussions.
Microsoft Sponsors MX East
We’re pleased to announce that Microsoft is the Platinum sponsor for MX East. This year, Microsoft launched Microsoft Expression Studio, a suite of design and interaction tools for user experience and web designers to bring vision to reality through designer-developer collaboration in the delivery of rich internet applications to the web. At MX East 2007, you can visit the Microsoft Silverlight Lounge to learn more about this and other innovations that will bring richer experiences to the web. Stay tuned for special offers Microsoft will have for MX East 2007 attendees.
We’d like to thank Microsoft for their support of MX East.
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