07/11/2007 10:23:14 PM 
(1) 
(1) "As an ethnographer for Microsoft,
Donna Flynn uses her training as a Ph.D. in archeology to analyze how
ordinary folks from London to Beijing make daily use of their
cellphones.
She feeds results of her field studies to two dozen designers, engineers and strategists toiling in an unusual research lab on the Microsoft campus. Awkwardly dubbed the Mobile and Embedded Devices Experience design center, or MEDX, it is where Microsoft plots strategies to sell souped-up cellphones that act a lot like PCs."
USA TodayDespite all the collective wisdom and intelligence of these armies,they haven't inspired their designers to create anything as captivating as Apple's iPhone.
Is it because they are looking at what is, rather than imagining what could be?
Posted by Ed Cotton
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I don't know this as fact, but I would assume the reason isn't that the ethnographers haven't been delivering clear insights or even imaginative solutions. I suspect the problem lies in their functional role in the organizations they work for. Likely many of these ethnographers are consultants, and even those within the organization do not have the capacity to make the decisions needed to implement the findings and allocate the budgets to create these communications devices. The reason Apple's iPhone exists is due to Steve Jobs. Sure there are a great team of designers and engineers at Apple, but the same is true of Nokia and Microsoft. The differnece is that Steve Jobs has the convistion to act upon the research he sees, to steward the design and engineering allocating budgets to what he feels is most important. My take would be that there isn't a shortage of imagination or great ideas, just a shortage of great leaders who can make them happen.