Post #3 - Generative Research

I’d like to think I’m a very simple being.  Very straight forward with simple tastes, not overly dependent on technology…and not blessed with the best artistic skills.  Unfortunately, sometimes the way we perceive ourselves is not completely the way things are.  This experiment in Generative Research (with me as the subject) should be a firsthand demonstration of how customer research methodologies are good at communicating ideas about the customer that the customer can’t (in free narrative) detail about himself. 

There are a few things I’ve grown accustomed to depending on.  Though I’ve been in situations where I comfortably live without them for months on end, I know that if these articles are within arms’ reach then I’ll be reaching for them.

My iPhone.  Like the rest of the Apple Mafia, I’ve grown dependent on the ease with which desired information flows from this device.  It sings me to sleep at night and wakes me with everything from NPR to Stevie Wonder.

My beloved Surface.  Though I was skeptical about whether I could return to the PC world, my Windows Surface continually lures me in.  It assists me in doing everything I need done in terms of work.

My pen and notepad.  Yes, you read that right.  Because part of me is stuck on analog and I like the feeling of writing things down, this pair is always by my side.  Batteries can’t go dead on these things, and I can record things much quicker too. 

Now my Surface and iPhone, as awesome as they are, wouldn’t be as addictive without the internet and its bottomless pit of data.  The data sources that I access through them are ultimately what trigger the anti-social stints of staring blanking into a screen as I fall down the informational rabbit hole.  The foremost information sources, for me, are Google, my email, and Facebook.

Google is the Pandora’s box of information and answers all of the questions I have, the questions I don’t have, and even the questions I don’t want to have.  Everything from exploring random ideas for next year’s vacation to determining the GDP growth for Kenya to prepare for a global policy discussion happens for me through Google.  Any question I have, Google is the first secondary research source I use.  I Google most often immediately before classes and during study periods for school or for researching and planning activities outside of school.

My email is not only the reception point for most of my incoming communications but is also a repository for records, plans, ideas, and future engagements.  When I am not engaged in meetings I usually check my email at least four times an hour because I have faith that it is the one place I am likely to receive my important messages.  It is also the one place that I can find all of my personal records and information.  I check my email first thing every morning and last thing before I go to bed.  I frequently tell people that if they want to contact me in the long term to throw away my phone and keep my email.

Facebook and I have a true love hate relationship.  I hate that it has replaced bumper stickers in telling me more about people than I would like to know.  On the other hand, Facebook does an amazing job of keeping me up on “social current events”.  At times, when I feel like my web calendar is missing an engagement I will scour Facebook to see if there is any inkling of what event I may be missing.  As well, Facebook offers spouts of mindless entertainment and funny quips.

As the timeline depicts, information bursts populate my entire day.  When I wake up, I take a heavy dose of email, Facebook, and international news followed by a calendar glance to tell me what I’m doing for the day.  As I leave home and head for school, searching the internet becomes more frequent as I prepare for my classes.  “Information breaks” take place throughout the day as I visit my favorite fitness and exercise sites to plan my workouts and visit my favorite cooking websites to plan my meal for the evening.  Upon arriving home I tend to tap information streams for pleasant diversion.  This may be NPR again, or Pandora to stream music. After the brief breath of fresh content I return to my homework supported by Google.  The night finally ends with an email check, a Facebook check, and some streaming tunes to my iPod.

This exercise provided me with a very objective view of my interaction with the world.  Just as many assume they can explain exactly what they want but in actuality can’t fully express their desires without assistive tools, I feel like this exercise provided an objective means of detailing a framework surrounding a person’s dependencies or patterns from a customer in any case where an open ended question would not suffice