Big Data Now: 2014 Edition

Chapter 6. Design and Social Science

Having established itself as a field with a body of knowledge and established norms and practices, data science is increasingly open to (and recognizing its need for) bringing in other approaches. This chapter kicks off with an overview of how ideation workshops—a mainstay of the field of design—open up new ways of thinking about problems, whether research or business questions. Questions of design are also at the forefront of the exploding area of wearable computing; we are designing not just devices but new experiences, and new ways of structuring personal boundaries.

How Might We...

Human-centered design techniques from an ideation workshop

By Bo Peng and Aaron Wolf of Datascope Analytics

At Datascope Analytics, our ideation workshop combines elements from human-centered design principles to develop innovative and valuable ideas/solutions/strategies for our clients. From our workshop experience, we’ve developed a few key techniques that have enabled successful communication and collaboration. We complete certain milestones during the workshop: the departure point, the dream view, and curation with gold star voting, among others. These are just a few of the accomplishments that are achieved at various points during the workshop. In addition, we strive to support cultural goals throughout the workshop’s duration: creating an environment that spurs creativity and encourages wild ideas, and maintaining a mediator role. These techniques have ...