Better Research, Better Products

Although mobile phones and other new digital communication tools can be seen to mediate human communication, they also shape it. As argued here, user interfaces have a rich relationship to the social activities, and they themselves are an element in the socially shaped and socially shaping interaction. UIs per se represent society for us. Thus, we actually are carrying a piece of society in our pockets each time we walk out with our phones. And UI specifiers, product concept developers, and software engineers—they all design society too. This is why UI designers have such an important role in defining the mobile information society.

Naturally, the relationship between the UI and the user (or the whole culture) is dynamic. The modeling of existing communication needs necessarily intertwines with innovations that reshape communication. Innovative products always offer something more than is there today. Innovations change communication patterns, which for their part then change product requirements. In this sense, communication patterns serve as a starting point for innovations, and they should never be underestimated.

Product development processes and associated end-user insights must be tempered by an awareness of changes in the human–machine interaction and communication culture. The methods mentioned in this chapter—longitudinal, contextual, and cultural end-user research—offer a basis for practical development work. They also bring usability practice closer to other consumer-related studies. Forming a richer picture of the people using our products is a core challenge. We will never be finished painting this picture. And because consumers change, products have to change as well. There is a reason to look very closely at human interaction and what it demands from the user interface. The pace of the digital marketplace generates new kinds of digital product launch challenges for consumer researchers and UI designers, and forces them to understand emerging cultural patterns to offer better products in the next round. What was great once soon becomes outdated. Today’s SMS will not be enough tomorrow.