I’m tied between the Fly on the Wall, A Day in the Life, and Shadowing methods. I’ll pick A Day in the Life.

It sounds simple enough to me, follow around the people for whom you’re designing something for, and get to understand their needs.

While not necessary for all projects, I feel that this method gives the most context on my target. I learn about their routines from the beginning to the end of the day, and can therefore figure out how I need to make what I’m designing will fit in their lives. That is of course assuming that my product is designed for all day use, and/or my subject plans on using it all day.

So what device would be suitable for continuous use? First thing that comes to mind is a phone. Or a radio. Any sort of communication device. These things need to work consistently, and when problems arise it’s best to be present in order to observe the subject and the device. What if there isn’t a device yet? What if we’re trying to figure out what their communication device needs to do? The Day in the Life method may be a little overkill. However, it does help to know what information needs to be relayed whenever the design’s target is communicating with someone, and how the target organizes their own information. A designer must know what someone is used to in order to blend improvement with familiarity and intuition.

But what else? Communications are an easy one. We’re hooked on them all the time. Lets say that New York City hadn’t yet implemented computers in their cabs for entertainment and payment. The best way to understand what the device has to do is to ride in a cab all day. Why all day? You get in a cab, specify your destination, drive, get there, and pay the driver. What more could there be? Well that’s what you have to find out. There are probably different things that every passenger wants that you wont learn from one cab ride. Credit card payments, a map, news, the time. Everyone’s needs and desires are different, and you need to be present to pick up on all of them, rather than rely on just asking them what they’d like.