science of desire megan witkop & christy wright. sirius radio sirius satellite radio called on a...
TRANSCRIPT
Science of Desire
Megan Witkop & Christy Wright
Sirius Radio
• Sirius Satellite Radio called on a small Portland consulting firm to envision a device that would help it catch up with bigger rival XM Satellite Radio Holdings.
• Ziba Design dispatched a team of social scientists, designers, and ethnographers on a road trip to Nashville and Boston.
• Shadowed 45 people, studying how they listen to music, watch TV, and even peruse gossip magazines.
Conclusion
•A portable satellite-radio player that was easy to use and load with music for later playback could be a killer app in the competition against XM.
What is Ethnography?
•A species of anthropologist who can, among other things, identify what's missing in people's lives -- the perfect cell phone, home appliance, or piece of furniture -- and work with designers and engineers to help dream up products and services to fill those needs.
The Beauty of Ethnography
• Provides a richer understanding of consumers than traditional research.
• Creating stars within companies, in retailing, manufacturing, financial services, as well as consulting firms. o Ex: IBM, IDEO, Jump Associations, and Doblin
Group.
3 Ways to Spark Innovation
• Refreshing a product o Revitalize an existing product.
• Cracking markets
• Transforming culture
Refreshing a Product
• Marriot hiring IDEO to rethink the hotel experience for the customer. o Seven consultants covering 12 cities
• Marriot learned that hotels are good at serving large parties instead of the solo traveler.
• Marriot reinvented all the hotels.
• Have any of you stayed at Marriot and noticed any improvement?
Cracking Markets
• General Electric o Executives wanted to get in the plastic-fiber
businesso Found manufacturers to participate in the study
• What GE foundo Customers want to collaborate from the
earliest stages to develop high-performance materials
• Conclusiono GE now shares prototypes with customers
Transforming a Culture
• For corporations that don't market directly to consumers, ethnography has a singular appeal
• Intel is facing competition from their rival Advanced Micro Deviceso Intel needs to branch out beyond its core chipmaking
business
• Intel used ethnography previously o Realized that fishermen could use wireless technology to
transmit the tally of their daily catch directly to the Alaska Fish & Game Dept.
o Studied the elderly to see how Intel could provide medical technology a device to track and help ensure that patients take their
medications
Questions??
Reference
www.businessweek.com/stories/2006-06-04/the-science-of-desire