Technology and Innovation: Inspiration Beyond User Research for SMMEs within the Developing Economies
The consensus amongst world-class researchers and innovators attest that technology is created by people to enhance human capability by utilising hardware, software and associated skill-sets. Educational technology is a discipline that is applied in a specific field of expertise and competencies. The exact contexts act as a determinant in defining the nature of the associated technological education, skills and knowledge required in a field of interests to individuals, groups, team or organisations. Therefore, if User Researchers don’t have a complete understanding of what other cultures are doing with a technology, SMMEs will only be guessing when to innovate to build sustainable businesses. The desire to understand other cultures from different angles, and to explore ways of extracting insights around challenges facing diverse communities is crucial to developing innovative ideas.
User researchers are blessed with many opportunities to explore the world: constantly interacting with innovative ideas, meeting new people, and encountering diverse cultures. As a result, User Researchers gain better perspectives that help them generate and evaluate ideas to drive innovation.
The world’s top authoritative scholars and authors define innovation as something that is new, novel and different. Innovations have a degree of newness and novelty that varies enormously. This includes the technical design, management and commercial activities involved in the marketing of a new or improved product or the first commercial use of a new or improved process or equipment. Almost every role player in the field of User Research can create awareness that arises from unique experiences to discover opportunities for exciting and modern technological innovations. User Research as an emerging discipline remains a foundation for technological innovation to create jobs of the future – beyond typical human experience.
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