Comments on: Can’t You Just Ask People?

By: Maria A

Maria A — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 04:04:02 +0000

Yeah I also agree with your response. There are so many people out there that no longer believe in their intuition and go and ask other people. It is really bad that they no longer believe in themselves. You look to much at what people are getting than what you really need. More of us should begin to trust in ourselves.

By: ChristopherP

ChristopherP — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 02:36:03 +0000

good point Daniella with your point of how behavior can sometimes tell a lot more about a person than their words (at least i believe that is what you were saying). This doesn’t seem to be just solely for the describing what a person wants/needs scenario, but in general. This can be expressed when my sister is up late studying. She has good study habits and will study all night. Many times, like just the other night, I will go into her room and find her crashed out on her papers (typically between 12-3 a.m). So ill attempt to turn her cpu/lights/etc. Sometimes she will wake up and when I ask her if she is tired, she denies it and continues studying. This cycle can play out up to three times in one night! Another example is myself. Many times when i am upset or bothered by something, I’m not very vocal about expressing it. I tend to keep to myself even though you can tell something is bothering me by observing my actions. I work in the restaurant business and its quite comical to see the facade we, as servers, put on for our tables.

By: Jennifer Hernandez

Jennifer Hernandez — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 01:50:53 +0000

I agree with the article, most of the time I do not know what I want, even when asked what I want to eat for lunch. I think that a lot of people have experienced something like “Hank”. For one reason or another we do nothing about it. I believe the main reason is because we do not know where to go to expand that idea. Just because we do not know how to articulate about our thoughts does not mean we do not have a good proposal.
Another point is that, again just like “Hank” our world is so advanced that in a few months, the same thing we just thought about will come out as the new hot item to buy. With all the new technology everyone is always trying to out do the last item. It must cost millions of dollars to do the work, which includes the hardware, software, labor, and research as well. Our economy is down, I am sure that not a lot of people are willing to fund an idea from someone that has no prior experience. The example about the shower heads, the research done required participants to actually want to be recorded in the shower. If it were me I probably would have said no, because I would feel awkward to know someone would watch the recording. The shower head was a success so I guess that what I would do or not does not really matter.
It does depend on who you ask. Woman, are usually more indecisive than men, but it does not mean that woman have less ideas than men. If anything I would think that women have more creative ideas, but men do have an edge on how things function and how they are built. But that is what anthropology is all about, learning from each other, and the reasons why we do and know certain things.

By: NimA

NimA — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 22:48:15 +0000

I would think it would be difficult to do the research needed to obtain a legitimate data model to inscribe a new device that would encompass all who would use it. The trials and statistical analysis must be work intensive especially with all the differences that must be taken into account since humans by definition are different, in that they come in all different shapes and sizes with a tendency to customize to their own needs. I wonder if its just the averages taken from all their data taken and then just leave a little room for adjustment in the implementation of their new products, or is it regional to specific areas or countries. I tip my hat off to the AA’s who figure these things out.

By: KrumeichP

KrumeichP — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 20:02:33 +0000

I agree with Paloma here where she makes a point to reiterate that people care abut what entertains them. This is the whole idea behind a huge part of business. Supply and demand, people want to be entertained (demand) so somebody’s going to supply that entertainment. I heard that entertainment is the number one export of the US. Madonna alone was one of the top exports for a while (this I do not understand). It is very true that many mundane objects that are basically essential for daily living are kinda pushed aside for more exciting items. I mean, if I had to choose between dishsoap and a 70 inch plasma screen, I would probably choose the TV, even though I know that I need the dishsoap, where as I do not need the TV. Human nature, thats it, we just want stuff and a lot of it…Greed.

By: KrumeichP

KrumeichP — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 19:55:08 +0000

The idea here is that consumers have a hard time articulating there needs, I don’t really know about this statement. I can tell what other people are saying is true all the time, but for myself, I think I know what my needs are. Also, the word needs is a little off base, at least here in America, we don’t stop at needs, but moreover at our wants. I don’t need a new car, but I want a new car. This is ok though, and I don’t think it is that important if people can articulate their need very well, because here in our great capitalistic free market society, buying and selling is what makes things go around.

By: KrumeichP

KrumeichP — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 19:51:00 +0000

I agree with Ray here. It seems like people as a whole want everything to be easier, more efficient, cost less etc. I don’t know exactly why this is, I mean some people don’t mind when things are difficult, but this idea is possibly an outdated one (I don’t think so, but maybe). I like the last sentence here, “As humans, we need to take advantage of our ability to make choices and attempt to improve our lives and not try to waste it on what’s currently popular amongst our peers.” If it were only that easy, but people typically follow the crowd, for reasons I think only human nature explains, but there are times when people step outside of what is the norm and become something else in an attmept to change things for the better.

By: Ken B

Ken B — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 01:07:56 +0000

I found what the research team did for Moen very fascinating. I just would have assumed that people would tell you what they truely wanted. but when I truely think about what I would want in a shower head, I would definetly leave out many aspects which I wouldn’t believe essential, when ironically they would be. I think we have to find an inbetween. Research teams need to ask people what they would like in a product ast well as observe the same people whn they interact with the product. By utilizing both aspects of research, the perfect results can be reached. this just further supports the use of apllied anthropology in society because ultimately visual research is better then research done through verbal communication. People’s words can be tainted, but a person’s actions express how they truely feel. This article really opened my eyes to this fact of life.

By: Andrew Lidddle

Andrew Lidddle — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 22:14:20 +0000

That is very true. Marketability has become increasingly important over the last century as we have emerged from the Industrial Revolution as a consumer-based society. If nobody is willing to buy it (i.e. it is too expensive or impractical to buy), then it doesn’t matter how brilliant your invention is, it will still simply rot in the cellar.

By: Daniella Echeveste

Daniella Echeveste — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 06:58:47 +0000

I do agree that people do have a hard time verbalizing their needs, watching behaviors of what they cannot explain helps get a better idea of what they want. Behavior can sometimes tell a lot more about a person they words themselves. I think that this address the issue of people wanting to overload their products with features, by looking at how they behave with the item I agrees it can tell us a lot of the need of the item. I do think that it is a bit odd that people think that they know what they want and are able to verbalize but find out it is not as useful as they thought it was. I agree with a previous comment made about describing an task or behavior while engaging in it will gives the best verbal description, it also gives the consumer a chance to really feel what a essential need is in a product instead of a desire.