Design in motion

GLOBAL – Deep inside the Nokia design team are a couple of people who spend a lot of their time traveling the world, talking to people, taking pictures and turning that research into meaningful insights for the rest which Nokia can react to.

Jan Chipchase, based in Tokyo, is also a prolific blogger, along with his cohort, Younghee Jung (now based in London). Following the design event in London the other week, Jan has made his presentation available online, and posted some interesting insights outlining what went into creating it.

Well used to traveling and crossing time zones, Jan and Younghee collaborated heavily on the presentation, but it wasn’t until late into the night before that they both got to sit down and complete the final edits. The result was top notch and hugely insightful. Their recent work in developing countries is pretty intense, but discovering what people there want and need from their devices is also pretty amazing.

The full results of the research haven’t been published yet, but Jan has outlined various aspects on his blog, including how Younghee and the team set up ‘Open Studios’ in shanty towns, enabling locals to offer up
their needs through designing their own devices on paper. The program is run as a competition, where locals create their ideal device, but it also doubles as a means of gathering data and information. Some of the results are pretty cool. He’s also posted an interesting story on how some of the research is created, practically.

Check out more from Jan on his blog JanChipchase.com

Related posts:

• Nokia gesture design video (and live research in London)
• Best of 2008 in Design – Anthropology
• Peek behind the curtain of Nokia’s design studio in London

Tags | local, Nokia design, research