Transferblog

Don Norman has just posted a very provocative and thoughtful piece about the value – or not – of design research. The opening line is this:

“I’ve come to a disconcerting conclusion: design research is great when it comes to improving existing product categories but essentially useless when it comes to new, innovative breakthroughs.”

I don’t agree with his framing of the issues and several of his conclusions, but I do think it’s an important discussion to have. I wrote a longer response on my own blog because I wanted it to be more public than here, but I invite your comments.

Steve Portigal and Frog Design’s Adam Richardson have also written thoughtful responses to Norman’s piece, which is how I came across it in the first place. Todd Zaki Warfel has also written a rebuttal.