Research

Understand the emotional layer of experience.

Humans and technology are co-evolving. We create technology to drive change, but then it ends up changing us. All these changes can be difficult to detect and even more difficult to predict. How might we make change visible? Research with a twist. Research that recognizes how humans and technology commingle in unexpected ways.

The future of research is probably not going to be found in an airless conference room or colorless clickstream data. For research to untangle our messy, tech-infused lives, it means getting creative. Next-gen research methods combine quantitative and qualitative in unexpected ways. Playful and participatory, inclusive and intimate, vivid and visionary—our research draws on a combination of emotion-sensing technology, ethnographic interviews, and co-creation.

Empathy Labs

Using a proprietary affective layering method, empathy labs get at physical, perceptual, and social layers of emotion with a combination of emotion-sensing technology and ethnographic research. Studying emotion is not easy or obvious, so Pamela and her collaborators have developed our own methods to get at the deeper emotional connections between people and products. Ask us about biometric analysis, emotional laddering, object investigations, and data diaries.

Timeframe: 1 month

Design Research

The emotional relationship we have with technology can be uncovered using techniques from design research. Mixed methods make for magical insights.

• Ethnographic research
• Interviews
• Diary studies
• Online surveys
• Usability testing
• Social media sentiment analysis
• Interactive studies
• Analytics and data analysis

SoundingBox is a new research platform that works at the intersection of emotional, contextual, and behavioral data. See SoundingBox.com for more.