The Productologist

On my way back from a trade show, I spied an article in the airline magazine about how companies are starting to use the “novel” technique of Ethnography to understand how customers really use their products or to test out prototypes in real-world situations (this seems to be a hot topic, because after seeing the article in the airline mag, I also found a recent post about it at Requirements Defined, a blog from the folks at Seilevel and Experientia).

I was stuck in Chicago on my way to a trade show recently, waiting for my connection to Miami get delayed more and more, so I pulled out the latest issue <12Mar2007> of BusinessWeek. Disclaimer: I have a love/hate relationship with Business Week. Some of the articles/columns are well-written, comprehensive and balanced, providing a unique look at a company or business situation.

Others read like they were written by a publicist or just skim the surface, failing to find out answers to deeper questions.