Coffee Talk with Design Research Collective

Welcome to Coffee Talk with Design Research Collective. In this episode, host Sara Frailich chats with Polaris Industries Consumer Insights Manager, Meagan Jamieson about: • Why Meagan is a Unicorn in the research industry• Finding her home in the automotive industry• Falling in love with qualitative research• How differentiation comes through deep understanding of unmet need• Taking risks as a student

Welcome to Coffee Talk with Design Research Collective. In this episode, host Sara Frailich chats with Polaris Industries Consumer Insights Manager, Meagan Jamieson about: • Why Meagan is a Unicorn in the research industry• Finding her home in the automotive industry• Falling in love with qualitative research• How differentiation comes through deep understanding of unmet need• Taking risks as a student

Welcome to Coffee Talk with Design Research Collective. In this episode, host Sara Frailich chats with Senior Product Insights Researcher, Austin Curtis about:• The power of empathy to fuel innovation• Qualitative research is a real job! • How “food is not going anywhere!”• The joy of interviewing kids• The need for the insight is more important than what we call our jobs

Welcome to Coffee Talk with Design Research Collective. In this episode, host Sara Frailich chats with futurist and serial entrepreneur, Chris Svensrud about: * The path from physics to infant mattress design* The power of disruption* Why practicing HCD is similar to basketball* How HCD inspired a new camping mindset* The HCD process and the freedom to bend it

Welcome to Coffee Talk with Design Research Collective. On this episode, host Sara Frailich, chats with designer and University of Minnesota faculty, Luci Kandler about:Aesthetic vs. technical designNASA's first new spacesuit since the 1970'sHCD & curriculum developmentHow customer service is key in HCDExciting ideas in biomimicry

Welcome to Coffee Talk with Design Research Collective. In this episode, host Sara Frailich chats with the compassionate and mission-driven, Ashlee Moser Francis about: The unpredictable path of a Human-Centered Design StrategistBirdwatching!Being a how and why personThe challenge of working with complex systems and processesThe responsibility of a researcher to do no harmMusic courtesy of Chris Castino (www.chriscastino.com)

On this inaugural episode, host Sara Frailich chats with the thoughtful and talented, Kristin Shardlow about: The challenges of explaining "design research"The beauty of a well-designed spreadsheetAll things human-centered designThe privilege of doing research in the healthcare spaceThe power of beginner's mindMusic courtesy of Chris Castino (www.chriscastino.com)

After years of teaching Human Centered Design 101 (Basics) and Human Centered Design 301 (Advanced) to only corporate clients we are now offering our courses to individuals. The 3.5 hour HCD 101 is an introduction to the concepts, behaviors and mindsets of putting the user at the center of your design and decision-making. Students will learn from the hands on practice activities and relatable case studies in an interactive and dynamic class setting. Please reach out to hello@designresearchcollective.com for more information!

After years of teaching Human Centered Design 101 (Basics) and Human Centered Design 301 (Advanced) to only corporate clients we are now offering our courses to individuals. The 3.5 hour HCD 101 is an introduction to the concepts, behaviors and mindsets of putting the user at the center of your design and decision-making. Students will learn from the hands on practice activities and relatable case studies in an interactive and dynamic class setting. Please reach out to hello@designresearchcollective.com for more information!

The Privilege of 'Sitting at the Feet of your Elders' We begin each ethnography by asking our respondents to “tell us a little about themselves”. In a recent session exploring landownership and its necessary tools, our host told us about herself and her Gullah and Creek roots. “We value sitting at the feet of our elders and learning from them.” This moment, as I sat cross legged on the carpet in her home in Florida, I felt so privileged to be doing just that. True human-centered design research involves observing and learning from “users” in the environment in which they are interacting with the thing we are studying. This brings us into homes and personal environments. In a very short time, we become intimate with the details of these strangers’ lives, their motivations, joys and struggles. Even when we are studying something as simple as paper plates (or as serious as implanted medical devices), I do always feel that I am sitting and learning at the feet of our respondents. The opportunity to access this window into another’s life feels such a privilege and an honor. Qualitative ethnographic research uncovers invaluable real-life insight into the way products or strategies can be most successfully designed. For me, as a researcher, these fleeting chances to learn from people that I would most likely never otherwise meet, is an unexpected honor that continually humbles and re-shapes my view of humanity. I will forever be grateful for this extraordinary ‘fringe benefit’ of our research. ~ Beth VanDeWalker | Design Research Collective