Speaker

Cobie Everdell

 



WORKSHOP:

Alternatives:
Concept Testing at Work

Through facilitated discussions and variations in data capture, our method of Concept Testing avoids the cognitive homogeny so typical of focus groups. It's an immersive experience that encourages participants to contribute to the design process, individually and in groups. The resulting hybridized design concepts, as a result of user action, better address the needs of those users. Concept Testing is most effective when conducted with outliers and early adopters. Looking at our design concepts and the cultures for which they are created (and here we mean cultures of use, rather than those divided by ethnic or geopolitical lines), we begin to understand the broader implications of design.

As a practical extension of Jason Sever’s lecture “Alternatives: Inspiration for the Collaborative Design Team,” participants of this workshop will engage in a round of Concept Testing. In the first part of the session, the participants will divide into groups and participate in the design research process through the lens of the users. They will be asked to evaluate and build on provided design concepts. In the next round, participants will wear the hat of design analysts, exploring the materials created in the testing session and learning to use these visual data captures for synthesis and insight generation.

Participants will come out of this workshop with not only new tools to enrich the creative process, but also with a new found appreciation of utilizing user input to fuel design thinking.

BIO:


Cobie Everdell is a design analyst at frog design where he creates and leads research programs for clients in a variety of industries. Clients have included Johnson & Johnson , Samsung and Sprint. Cobie specializes in product-focused programs, identifying insights that inspire new product development. Before joining frog, Cobie worked as a human factors specialist at IDEO, conducting research programs for clients such as General Mills, Microsoft and Pepsi. Cobie has also worked for Mattel, ZIBA design, and Gerber Gear where he led research initiatives that have produced several successful product releases. Cobie holds a masterís degree in product design from the Illinois Institute of Technology and a bachelorís degree in art and art history from Colgate University.

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