Field studies

I recently bemoaned how some attendees at a recent Experience Design event in London, looking at mobile devices, did not seem at all interested by - in fact in some cases protested - the idea of conducting ethnographic studies/field studies/contextual inquiry/whatever you want to call it, before the event - that is, before designing something.

Seeing how people work did not seem to strike most attendees as significant information in the requirements gathering process. 'Throwing designs over the wall' - I borrow an expression that Geraldine Fitzpatrick recently wrote to me, and which I'm quite taken by - seemed to be the way they wished to operate (with perhaps taking a look afterwards to see how people use things being a potentially interesting add-on).

Nice therefore to see Jared Spool now coming out with Field Studies: The Best Tool to Discover User Needs, singing the praises of getting out there and watching people doing things. There are big issues with the use of the word 'needs' (we need food and drink, but we don't really need the latest HP Jornada or what it can do), but never mind.

I'm surprised that people are held in such little regard by so many designers, viewed as mere ciphers that cannot inform the design process. 'Hey, I don't want people stifling my creativity' and 'Why should I care about people finding it difficult to use?' are commonly expressed views, here and now, in companies across the UK. This position strikes me as arrogant.