Nov 7, 2019Defuse Dublin 2019: The Big Green Button MythResisting Dehumanised Research & the Corporate Constraint of Qualitative Insight — Background This is an adaptation of a much, much longer article I wrote earlier in the year about the dehumanisation of research and insight, with a particular focus on its implications for interpretive qualitative research. I wrote the original article originally with a social/consumer research audience in mind but, as it…UX9 min read
Sep 18, 2019What 90s Panini World Cup Stickers Can Tell Us About The Limits of #AI…Don’t Fear the Increasing Application of Artificial Intelligence in the Corporate World Because It’s All Powerful, Fear It Because It’s Shit. The corporate hype and appetite around Artificial Intelligence abounds with pace, mostly in the absence of an informed appraisal of the limits of technology with regard to automation and the dehumanisation of particular forms of work, particularly knowledge or creative work. Or anything involving interpretation (like research!).Machine Learning7 min read
Jul 18, 2019Planning, Politics & The Problem With Real People.Or: Yeah, simplicity is cool but have you ever tried providing detailed descriptions of everyday life or professional practice? — “Details are dismissed as unimportant, expertise as irrelevant. People who complicate things — which might be a good definition of an expert — are viewed with suspicion.” Ian Leslie I have had a few twitter discussions (recently with Thomas Geoghegan & Faris) around the idea that “people who work in…Marketing6 min read
May 2, 2019Corporate Constraints, the Dehumanisation Of Research & Insight and Some Thoughts on RecoveryOr Why Resisting Managerial Agendas Might Make More Meaningful Market Research “Magical, fantastic, dreamlike experiences are almost by definition unpredictable. … Both control and the nonhuman technologies that produce control tend to be inimical to enchantment. … Fantastic experiences can go anywhere; anything can happen. Such unpredictability clearly is not…Qualitative Research18 min read
Feb 28, 2019(Don’t) tell me something I don’t know: on routinisation & predictable insights in market research.There is a line I love in Adrian Shaughnessy’s design bible Graphic Design: A User’s Manual. It reads: “The single most important thing to remember when presenting work to clients is that they are terrified of what they are going to be shown.” It captures perfectly the fear of the…User Research4 min read
Feb 28, 2019Digital Obsolescence: ‘Digital’ As a Redundant Lexical Legacy‘Digital’ is, in terms of language, a legacy issue. Nothing dates us more than the degree to which we recall the primacy of an analogue world through language. …Language3 min read
Jun 16, 2018Brand Solipsism: Treating Self-Centred Brands with the Big.I.Am Index© & Discourse AnalysisBefore you begin, in case the use of Danny Dyer’s image hasn’t made it sufficiently clear, I should point out that the initial discussion of Brand Solipsism and the Big.I.Am Index© is a little tongue-in-cheek, although — as always — all of the data is real! However, the ensuing discussion…Marketing9 min read
May 11, 2018Digital Debris & The Dialogic Deficit: Irish Brands on TwitterLike most people, I spent the long weekend exploring how a selection of Irish brands used twitter and considering the impact organisational cultures have on twitter use, and disuse. …Brand Strategy9 min read
Feb 28, 2018The Fudge & The Fury: The Distinctive & Not-So-Distinguishing Language Of Irish Opposition PartiesFebruary 2018 With most parties on a quasi-election footing, it is an interesting time to be writing about political communications in Ireland, particularly those of opposition parties. This is an article about the language used by Irish political parties on twitter, particularly opposition parties. That political parties choose to use…Irish Politics17 min read