Efficient, practical research for product design.
Years of working with Human Factors pioneer Jane Fulton Suri and IDEO co-founder Bill Moggridge deeply shaped my approach to research. Their thoughtful, observation-centered philosophies continue to influence how I work today and form the foundation of the methodologies I use.
My approach to research is tuned to directly support product design efforts. It emphasizes clarity, efficiency, and real-world relevance—surfacing insights that help teams make confident, informed decisions. This approach has produced strategic frameworks for clients ranging from medical companies like Boston Scientific to consumer brands like Nike, foundations like the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and many others.
Grounded in real context
Rather than aiming to prove theories, this kind of research focuses on understanding how people actually live, work, and interact with products and systems. It pays close attention to context, trade-offs, and the motivations behind behavior—the subtleties that often shape decisions in meaningful ways.
Shared tools, language, and process
At IDEO, I spent years in close collaboration with my colleague Matt Beebe, working to define shared tools, terminology, and processes for research. This work allowed multidisciplinary teams, often brought together for the first time, to align quickly around a common way of working. With a shared foundation in place, teams spent less time figuring out what process to use or what terms meant, and more time focusing on the actual content and goals of the project.
The result was more effective and efficient collaboration, stronger alignment, and deeper engagement across teams. Over time, this approach became widely adopted at IDEO and influenced teaching and practice at places like the Stanford d.school, California College of the Arts, and several design consultancies founded by former IDEO colleagues and collaborators.
Enabling client participation
A shared language and structure makes it easier for clients to participate. It gives stakeholders a way to engage meaningfully with the research process and to communicate about it internally. When research frameworks are transparent and accessible, they become tools the entire team can work with—not just the researchers.
A mindset of decision support
This philosophy is well described in Matt’s article “Design Decisions” on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/design-decisions-matthew-beebe
The piece frames creative work as a series of purposeful choices, and positions research as a tool for supporting those choices with clarity and intent.
Core values
At its best, qualitative research helps teams move forward with focus and confidence. It supports thoughtful decisions, reveals what really matters to the people being served, and makes design work stronger, faster, and more grounded.
After gathering information, patterns leading to opportunity areas are identified
Communication is key
Bringing research to life has been a consistent focus in my work. At IDEO, I helped establish film as a core method for sharing research insights, defining formats, hiring filmmakers, and directing projects to make findings clear and compelling. At Daylight, we continued using film and photography to help teams and clients connect with the real people behind the data. These deliverables deepened internal collaboration and gave clients effective tools to communicate insights across their organizations.
As a freelancer, I continue using film and photography to make research more engaging and memorable. I’ve also lectured on this topic to product design students at Stanford, as I believe it’s a critical skill for both researchers and designers.