DRS2012 Bangkok Proceedings Vol 4 - Design Research Society

1762 Conference Proceedings
Adisorn SUPAWATANAKUL and Anne SCHORR
information that can be beneficial to others, many organizations do not
have an effective mechanism to facilitate sharing such information. In
addition, the vision from upper management is crucial to achieving the
departmental buy-in necessary for inter-departmental collaboration.
For example, our client in the public transportation industry is comprised of
three separate agencies: commuter rail service, metropolitan rail and bus
services, and suburban bus service. Competing for ridership, the three
systems are designed to keep their riders on their service as long as
possible. Our research revealed that the three systems poorly support the
connecting services that many riders need. Riders were left to negotiate
the connections between the three systems on their own: some developed
elaborate workarounds to optimize their ride, some struggled to use the
system, and others abandoned the system altogether. Improving the rider
experience would require changing the interaction between these three
agencies, addressing work processes and strategies at an organizational
level.
2.4 Understanding the customer’s perspective requires a
different type of research
Differing client and customer perspectives can lead to very different
expectations for design research. While the client’s departments each
focus narrowly on a specific part of the customer experience, customers
view the experience broadly, as a continuous whole. The result of such
differing viewpoints is that clients may be blindsided by customer
frustrations.
For example, in a shopping study, we found one customer frustrated that
she was unable to return a product she purchased at Target.com to the
local Target store. In her mind, it was the same company, so the
experience should be seamless. In reality, Target and Target.com were
operated independently with little intersection besides the brand.
Another example is from our client in the entertainment industry. In this
company, each department has its own area of interest. Each department
funds design research projects independently, focusing on their specific
area. So while the marketing team may fund a focus group to identify
opportunities around advertising, the interaction design team may conduct
research on how customers navigate music choices, and the business
development team may look into partnership opportunities, and so on.
However from the customer’s point of view, each department is
responsible for one step in his or her overall experience of learning about,
selecting, and listening to new music.
When framing the research from the user’s point of view, the research
team discovers how the customer perceives the stages of the experience,