IDEAS

October 23rd 2006If we want to analyze and understand these phenomena in depth, is advisable  to look into people’s everyday life (journeys, routines, activities) during extended periods of time and to observe how the technology is integrated into their lives, a “user diary” is the key.

It seems clear that the emergence of new technologies opens possibilities for the appearance or modification of the users’ behavior patterns. As in Miguel’s case, the access to the internet through mobile devices creates new use scenarios, and therefore new expectations and needs. In the same way, the peer to peer downloading applications or the online communities (YouTube, Flickr, Myspace, lastfm,…) have changed the way in which users access and share multimedia contents in the Net.  

October 23rd 2006"The Importance of information retrieval systems and the fact that search engines are among the most dynamic businesses in the Internet, has made everything related to them to be permanently a current issue. From the point of view of the interaction design, and most surely as a consequence of the abovementioned, search engines present a carefully studied framework that is being constantly reviewed. This unusual feature makes its development a fascinating phenomenon to witness, connecting us directly at the same time with many of the most innovative trends in the Internet."
This article will focus on global Internet search engines, however many of these things can be applied to other types of applications involving information retrieval systems.

August 2nd 2006.in this article, I would like to focus on a part of the population who make very particular uses of the Internet who are no usually included in studies because they fall outside the average parameters cited above. The point is to reveal how these “odd” users might create opportunities for the development of new online services.

Abril 11th 2006. It is more and more frequent for marketing and technology managers to be concerned in getting to know the everyday, day to day habits of the users of their services and devices - mobiles, PCs, consoles, PDA's-. The idea is that in those currently "invisible" moments of everyday life there are hidden possibilities for innovation and potential market niches.

The qualitative techniques such as the discussion group and the in-depth interview are useful to explore human attitudes, but always from "that said about things". The practical scope, meaning, "what is done with things" are left out from these techniques.