Most companies do not have the staff capability to conduct ethnographic/observational research, nor the background to apply the anthropological, social science, and other disciplines valuable in interpreting the results and converting them to product needs. So they turn to design consulting firms adept at these techniques, including:
- Doblin Group, Chicago, 312/443-0800, www.doblin.com.
- E-Lab LLC, Chicago, 312/640-4450, www.elab.com.
- GVO Inc., Palo Alto, Calif. 650/858-2525, www.gvo.com.
- IDEO, Palo Alto, Calif., 650/688-3400, www.ideo.com
- Cultural Dynamics Inc., Westport, Conn., 203/227-6990, www.culturaldynamics.com,/i>.
- Fitch Inc., Worthington, Ohio, 614/885-3453, www.fitch.com.
- Center for Quality of Management Inc., Cambridge, Mass., 617/873-8950, www.cqm.org, referred to as concept engineering.
