ModeMapping is a research technique developed by Stuart Karten Design (SKD), a Los Angeles, United States, based industrial design firm. It is a method of interpreting standard consumer research to uncover areas of unmet needs.
It can be understood as a visualization tool that tracks the state of mind of consumers over time. Designers can then look for patterns by using a colorcoding system of categorizing these states of mind, or “modes,” that describe activity (“work mode” or “play mode”). The color-coded patterns of consumer behavior allow designers to look for shared experiences and then use these observations to suggest solutions that will appeal to customers. This also creates a topography of sorts of consumer activities as well as how they are thinking and feeling during those activities.[1]
SKD has used ModeMapping to drive product lines for companies including Johnson Controls and Avery Dennison.[2] For example, for Johnson Controls, SKD found that the drivers they observed all made quick, frequent transitions from role to role (parent at school, friend meeting peers at a restaurant) throughout the day. Seeing this pattern led the designers to suggest products such as a modular storage system that can easily be loaded into a vehicle and a reminder system (using RFID tags) that would alert drivers when important items (say, kids' sports equipment before a game) wasn’t brought into the car.[3]
ModeMapping has won a Silver International Design Excellence Award in 2006.[4]
BusinessWeek featured ModeMapping as an “innovation tool worth trying now.”[5]
External links
editReferences
edit- ^ Entrepreneurship and Innovation Today. (September 27, 2007). ModeMapping
- ^ IDSA- ID Firms. ModeMapping: SKD’s Proprietary Research Process
- ^ Jana, Reena. Business Week. (September 2007) "More on ModeMapping"
- ^ 2006 IDEA Winners: Silver. Time Empowerment Research- Stuart Karten Design[permanent dead link]
- ^ Business Week. (2007) "Innovation Tools and Trends.