Learning about, learning from

Some design research findings are what we learn about informants, but some of the more important findings are learning from the informants new ways to see.  The former are factual findings; the latter are insights.

(This line of thought is borrowed from James Spradley: Learning about means learning facts — attributes, behaviors, affinities, etc. Learning from means turning away from the informant toward their world and learning about things as the informant sees them. Some of what is learned will remain connected with the informant as belonging to their own quirky vision, but some of it find its way into the researcher’s own view of things. It might change his view of the sponsor’s brand, or one of their offerings, or the meaning of the project he is informing.)

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