Mapping Communication: How Might we Use Language in Design

DESCRIPTION

For all the myriad ways we have to express ourselves, there exists still, simply, our actions and our words. Mapping language can help us learn truths about ourselves. Even simple ones, like, “Yes, you do indeed belong to a place.” This presentation poses the questions: Where are the opportunities to use language maps in design? How can personal truths be used to connect people? In this presentation I discuss the Harvard Dialect Survey, and how the New York Times narrowed the survey to 25 questions. As a respondent to the survey I was struck by how the survey pinpointed me as a Floridian, and also how revealing the word "sunshower" is. If you look at slide 11, you'll see that both New Yorkers and Floridians use the word. Having lived in both areas for some time, I can attest that it rarely if ever 'sunshowers' in the city. Accordingly, this pattern instead hints at a larger pattern of movement as people from the Northeast both vacation and retire in the Sunshine State. If studied from the right angle, one word can tell us so much. Lastly, I believe research tools like the Harvard Dialect Survey can be used in a broader context. On slide 14 I introduce the question of using the survey to inform a product like the communication charts developed by Richard Lewis Communications, which illustrate the varying ways that people of different nationalities approach negotiation. It's an open-ended question, and I love to hear your thoughts and comments.

Citation preview