Comments for Psychobserver http://psychobserver.com Just another WordPress weblog Mon, 21 Dec 2009 02:03:56 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 Comment on Do people like clutter and content overload? by Nicolas http://psychobserver.com/hong-kong/do-people-like-clutter-and-content-overload/comment-page-1/#comment-135 Nicolas Mon, 21 Dec 2009 02:03:56 +0000 http://psychobserver.com/?p=223#comment-135 Thanks for the comments guys. @Steve: Very true. I did not mean to imply that there are no cultural differences, and I realize that citing two examples does not prove any point at all. :o) What I meant is that research is needed in any case to assess the situation. It's useless to argue over a meeting with clients without doing the homework or to just follow the status quo. Proving our point regarding usability is made hard by the lack of good and conclusive research (to my knowledge) on the topic. @Ada: Great quote and so true as well. This shows the difficulty we researchers can have doing our job in Asia. To me, it reinforces the importance of observation based research techniques, as well as one-on-one interviews, as opposed to say focus groups which although it is the most used research method, in most cases does not lead to any good objective results. (But it makes Focus Group a great tool for marketers who want to bias their research to prove their or their client's point. So dangerous.) Thanks for the comments guys.

@Steve: Very true. I did not mean to imply that there are no cultural differences, and I realize that citing two examples does not prove any point at all. :o ) What I meant is that research is needed in any case to assess the situation. It’s useless to argue over a meeting with clients without doing the homework or to just follow the status quo. Proving our point regarding usability is made hard by the lack of good and conclusive research (to my knowledge) on the topic.

@Ada: Great quote and so true as well. This shows the difficulty we researchers can have doing our job in Asia. To me, it reinforces the importance of observation based research techniques, as well as one-on-one interviews, as opposed to say focus groups which although it is the most used research method, in most cases does not lead to any good objective results. (But it makes Focus Group a great tool for marketers who want to bias their research to prove their or their client’s point. So dangerous.)

]]> Comment on Do people like clutter and content overload? by ada http://psychobserver.com/hong-kong/do-people-like-clutter-and-content-overload/comment-page-1/#comment-132 ada Sat, 19 Dec 2009 00:53:22 +0000 http://psychobserver.com/?p=223#comment-132 Your article reminds me of the book, "The Geography of Thought." (http://www.amazon.com/Geography-Thought-Asians-Westerners-Differently/dp/0743255356/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261183938&sr=8-1) Let me quote... "There is an Asian expression that reflects a cultural prejudice against individuality: 'The peg that stands out is pounded down.' [...] Maintaining harmonious social relations is likely to take precedence over achieving personal success." "Social psychologists Heejung Kim and Hazel Markus asked Koreans and Americans to choose which object in a pictured array of objects they preferred. Americans chose the rarest object, whereas Koreans chose the most common object. Asked to choose a pen as a gift, Americans chose the least common color offered and East Asians the most common." Your article reminds me of the book, “The Geography of Thought.” (http://www.amazon.com/Geography-Thought-Asians-Westerners-Differently/dp/0743255356/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261183938&sr=8-1)

Let me quote…
“There is an Asian expression that reflects a cultural prejudice against individuality: ‘The peg that stands out is pounded down.’ [...] Maintaining harmonious social relations is likely to take precedence over achieving personal success.”

“Social psychologists Heejung Kim and Hazel Markus asked Koreans and Americans to choose which object in a pictured array of objects they preferred. Americans chose the rarest object, whereas Koreans chose the most common object. Asked to choose a pen as a gift, Americans chose the least common color offered and East Asians the most common.”

]]> Comment on Do people like clutter and content overload? by Steve Portigal http://psychobserver.com/hong-kong/do-people-like-clutter-and-content-overload/comment-page-1/#comment-131 Steve Portigal Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:22:06 +0000 http://psychobserver.com/?p=223#comment-131 Right. There's a difference between "are accustomed to" or "are tolerant of" and "have a preference for." But the counter-argument is to consider examples where what seems undesirable in one culture is indeed desirable in another. An Indian may find the social isolation in an American city to be heartbreaking; an American may find the crowds and heavy interaction in an Indian city to be overwhelming. Right. There’s a difference between “are accustomed to” or “are tolerant of” and “have a preference for.” But the counter-argument is to consider examples where what seems undesirable in one culture is indeed desirable in another. An Indian may find the social isolation in an American city to be heartbreaking; an American may find the crowds and heavy interaction in an Indian city to be overwhelming.

]]> Comment on Crocs, Birkenstock and … rubber boots by muck boots http://psychobserver.com/hong-kong/crocs-birkenstock-and-rubber-boots/comment-page-1/#comment-118 muck boots Sat, 05 Dec 2009 10:18:16 +0000 http://psychobserver.com/2007/08/21/crocs-birkenstock-and-rubber-boots/#comment-118 Rain boots are a lot more different than regular boots because , you can get them in almost any patter, Boots like that just aren’t really available unless they’re made of rubber! Rain boots are a lot more different than regular boots because , you can get them in almost any patter, Boots like that just aren’t really available unless they’re made of rubber!

]]> Comment on The GoAnimate song by Nicolas http://psychobserver.com/social-networking/the-goanimate-song/comment-page-1/#comment-100 Nicolas Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:47:24 +0000 http://psychobserver.com/?p=156#comment-100 Yeah... I saw that yesterday... that's really too bad. Somebody has to do another GoAnimate song! Yeah… I saw that yesterday… that’s really too bad.
Somebody has to do another GoAnimate song!

]]> Comment on The GoAnimate song by Coady http://psychobserver.com/social-networking/the-goanimate-song/comment-page-1/#comment-98 Coady Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:27:45 +0000 http://psychobserver.com/?p=156#comment-98 I never noticed the one-eyed guy at the bottom. lol. Awesome. The video has been removed by the user... I never noticed the one-eyed guy at the bottom. lol. Awesome.

The video has been removed by the user…

]]> Comment on Crocs, Birkenstock and … rubber boots by Wibreeffott http://psychobserver.com/hong-kong/crocs-birkenstock-and-rubber-boots/comment-page-1/#comment-42 Wibreeffott Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:26:10 +0000 http://psychobserver.com/2007/08/21/crocs-birkenstock-and-rubber-boots/#comment-42 Cao , Im new to the forum and just wanted to introduce myself, i'm Eric . I've been lurking around the forum for quite some time looking up info but finally decided to make an account. Cao ,

Im new to the forum and just wanted to introduce myself, i’m Eric . I’ve been lurking around the forum for quite some time looking up info but finally decided to make an account.

]]> Comment on The end of User-Generated Content? by Online Essay « Jayacrothers's Blog http://psychobserver.com/innovation/the-end-of-user-generated-content/comment-page-1/#comment-57 Online Essay « Jayacrothers's Blog Fri, 23 Oct 2009 04:58:52 +0000 http://psychobserver.wordpress.com/?p=125#comment-57 [...] [xii] http://psychobserver.com/2008/03/08/the-end-of-user-generated-content/ [...]

[...] [xii] http://psychobserver.com/2008/03/08/the-end-of-user-generated-content/ [...]

]]> Comment on Reading Ahead: A Research by Portigal Consulting by Conversations with Dina » Reading Ahead … ethnography on evolution of books and reading http://psychobserver.com/customer-experience/reading-ahead-a-research-by-portigal-consulting/comment-page-1/#comment-89 Conversations with Dina » Reading Ahead … ethnography on evolution of books and reading Sun, 06 Sep 2009 17:14:16 +0000 http://psychobserver.com/?p=162#comment-89 [...] from the findings which are interesting, and worth a separate dialogue in themselves, I find that sharing the process of research, as Steve and his team have done, really demonstrates [...]

[...] from the findings which are interesting, and worth a separate dialogue in themselves, I find that sharing the process of research, as Steve and his team have done, really demonstrates [...]

]]> Comment on Reading Ahead: A Research by Portigal Consulting by steveportigal http://psychobserver.com/customer-experience/reading-ahead-a-research-by-portigal-consulting/comment-page-1/#comment-88 steveportigal Sat, 05 Sep 2009 00:54:39 +0000 http://psychobserver.com/?p=162#comment-88 Nicolas - as always thanks for your engagement and enthusiasm. It means a lot. I like your riffing on the digitalness of books, with aggregation of content, notes, sharing, looking up, etc. When we did the participatory design activity with people, that sort of enhanced hypertext sort of experience did come up; but as you point out that wasn't really part of our overarching findings or opportunity areas. Nicolas – as always thanks for your engagement and enthusiasm. It means a lot.

I like your riffing on the digitalness of books, with aggregation of content, notes, sharing, looking up, etc. When we did the participatory design activity with people, that sort of enhanced hypertext sort of experience did come up; but as you point out that wasn’t really part of our overarching findings or opportunity areas.

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