Radical Human Centricity: Fulfilling the Promises of Innovation Research

Description

There is a problem with innovation research. Many of the methods used to study people for strategic and design innovation purposes are not up to the task. They are holdovers from market research or are simplified versions of tools borrowed from other fields of research. The problem exists because these methods cannot provide the kind of understanding, or grounding in people’s lived experience to meet the requirements of design and strategy innovation. The world is only becoming more complicated, and innovation’s impacts on people’s lives and the environment are only increasing. It is essential we work to fulfill the promises of human-centered research with better research practices, and create positive interventions into people’s lives while resisting the reductionist, damaging, and wasteful tendencies of design thinking research and human-centered design (HCD). This book critiques many of the common methods used in innovation research and provides directions to overcome their weaknesses by developing a radical human-centric approach. Cover Front Matter Half-title page Title page Copyright page Contents Acknowledgments Foreword by Alexander Manu Introduction The Problem of Human-Centricity The Radical Human-Centric Approach What is the book you have in your hands? Notes Part I The Critique Chapter 1 The Need for Real Research Toward Real Research The Radically Human-Centric Version Notes Chapter 2 Reclaiming Ethnography Understanding Ethnography Ethnography: Writing About People What Being There Means: Empiricism, Subjectivity, and Objectivity Interviews ≠ Asking Questions to Gather Data Fieldnotes: Capturing the Field Experience The Possibility of a Micro-ethnographic Practice Finding the Right People: The Problem of Commercial Recruiting Remote Research: Working in a Pandemic and Postpandemic Reality Specialists Do Good Things: It is Time to End DIY Research Considering Impact: Ethics Before, Ethics After, Ethics Between Conclusion Notes Chapter 3 Rethinking Commercial Research The Key Conceptual Shifts toward Radically Human-Centric Research 1 Multi-Disciplinarity: Qual and Quant as Real Research “Quant is more scientific:” Or, People Misunderstanding Research Tools The Fantasy of Objectivity: How the Qual versus Quant Division Hides the True Nature of Empirical Research 2 Time: Considering the Past, Present, and Future Insight, Foresight, and the Fantasy of the Technofuture 3 Change Drivers: Understanding Agency and Change 4 Subjects of a Study: Real People versus Idealized Customer/Users 5 Complexity versus Simplicity 6 From Frameworks to a Positive Skepticism 7 Theorizing Needs = The End of Unmet Needs 8 Growth and Homeostasis 9 Impact: Understanding the Complexity of Homeostasis, its Inertia, and Barriers to Change 10 Impact at Scale: The problem of Global and Local Perspectives Conclusion Notes Part II Core Considerations Chapter 4 Beyond Empathy How Did We Get Into This Mess? Looking Beyond Empathy What Lies Beyond Empathy? Phenomenologically “Seeing” Experience The Meaning made from Experiences Structuring Shared Experience Schema and Cultural Models Ref lexivity – Difference – Perspective – And Bias! Finding Possibilities Past “Empathy” Notes Chapter 5 The World As It Is Being Radically Human-Centric Means Avoiding Abstraction What This Requires What Are the Benefits of the Examining the World as It Is? Understanding the World As You Find It: Problems and Solutions The World Is Not Simple: The Problems The World Is Not Simple: The Solution in Practice The Parallax View: The Problem of Perspective The Parallax View: Problems of Perspective – Theory The Parallax View: Problems of Perspective – In Practice Resisting the Urge to Control Things Death to Focus Groups! – In Theory Death to Focus Groups! – In Practice Notes Chapter 6 Radical Storytelling Practical Storytelling Context at Work: Thick Description Insights Difference between a “House” and a “Home” Between “Smart” and “Dumb” Process Changes: Notes Toward a Radical Approach to Storytelling Expertise in Storytelling Being “of” the Context Locating the “Other” Double Translation: An Argumentative Approach to Actionability Conclusion Notes Part III The RHC Approach An Outline of the RHC Process Scope 1.0 The Idea 1.1 The History of an Idea 1.2 Assumptions behind a Need for Research 1.3 The Expectations 1.3.1 Why Are You Doing It in the First Place? 1.3.2 What Do You Hope to Gain? 1.3.3 What Is It Supposed to Do? 1.3.4 How Big Should It Be? 2.0 Framing the Research 2.1 Getting the Brief Right 2.2 Hypotheses Are Created to Be Wrong 2.3 Understanding What Has Been Done Before 2.4 Connecting the Need with Outcomes 3.0 Making a Space for Planning 3.1 The Ethics of Research 3.1.1 The Degree of Engagement with the Participants 3.1.2 The Truthfulness of What They Are Being Told 3.1.3 The Value of the Information They Are Providing 3.1.4 The Way Their Personal Data and Information Will Be Handled 3.1.5 The Way They Are Being Represented 3.1.6 Everyone’s Safety 3.2 Choosing the Right Tool for the Job 3.3 The Right Team for the Job 3.4 Leaving Space for Failure Notes Observe 4.0 Set-Up 4.1 Recruiting 4.2 The First Respondent Problem 4.3 Pre-Research 4.4 Know Your Field Site 4.5 Thoughts on Screeners, Discussion Guides, and Moderators 4.6 Planning for Remote/Online Interviews 5.0 Entry 5.1 Nothing Goes To Waste 5.2 Leaving the Consultant’s Ivory Tower 6.0 In Field 6.1 Recording Fieldnotes 7.0 Leaving 7.1 Getting Out 7.2 Building Lasting Relationships Notes Understand 8.0 Analysis 8.1 Data Management 8.2 Actually Managing Complexity 8.3 Mitigating the Dreaded “Subjectivity” 9.0 Synthesis 10.0 Return-Test-Verify-Edit Note Generate 11.0 Insights 11.1 Description 11.2 Define 11.3 Translate 11.4 Actionability End Matter Notes on Activation Conclusion References Index