Better information leads to better design decisions. The more you know about the audience, the context, and the opportunities (and apply this knowledge) the more likely it is that you will meet a real need and do it well, even creatively.

Research can be very expensive, particularly quantitative research. For this reason, one of my very favorite resources is the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Their work “explores the impact of the internet on children, families, communities, the work place, schools, health care and civic/political life.”

They produce some very useful reports based on phone surveys and qualitative methods that can balance out the hype and hysteria from news and media sources.

If you are designing an online product or service, particularly for an American audience, you will find something useful there. They cover everything from attitudes about health information to voter engagement and video games.

For a fun diversion, start with The Future of the Internet III, which is the output from a survey of “thought leaders.” Apparently everything online is going to get more awesome, but people will still be jerks.

Written by Erika Hall on January 5, 2009 |