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Research paper : Designing products and services based on understanding human cognitive behavior (M. Akamatsu et al.)−146−Synthesiology - English edition Vol.4 No.3 (2012) the subject’s memory. Therefore, we proposed a method of recording the video images of the environment in which the behavior took place and the behavior itself, and then have the subject report what triggered the action while viewing the video replay[9]. In the study of learning and memory in psychology, it is known that the memory of the event at the time (episode memory) can be recalled when the subject visits the place or sees the object that was there. This is called the context-dependent memory[10]. Showing the image from the subject’s viewpoint that changes from moment to moment along with the behavior provides hints for recalling the environmental situation. It is considered useful for reporting the cognition and decision recalled by the subject in the situation.In the case where the subject is asked to verbalize the cognitive process at the time as the past behavior is re-experienced through recorded images, the method can be considered as the retrospective verbal protocol method. On the other hand, in the case where the subject is asked to describe the cognition and decision processes of only the behavior that the experimenter wishes to focus upon, the method is an interview, and this is called the retrospective interview method. Since it is not necessary to verbalize all of the daily actions if the aim is for designing the product or service, a retrospective interview method will be used where the interviewer picks up the action that may be related to designing and asks questionNote 3). 3.2 Chrono-ethnographyEthnography is the sociological methodology to understand the people’s activities in society[11]. The word means a research method to describe (graph) the people (ethno) by entering the social group to observe the behavior of the constituents of society, conducting interviews to the people, and then describing the activities of the people in that society through languageNote 4). In the sense that the method involves recording and analysis of the people’s activities by focusing on the cognitive behavior in real life situations, it can be said that the retrospective verbal protocol and retrospective interview methods are the combination of cognitive science and ethnographical methodsNote 5). While the original objective of ethnography is to understand the social activities as they are, the combined method that controls the experimental conditions as explained in the following chapter is effective for designing the product or service. This is because it is difficult to obtain findings that can be utilized for product or service design from the research that attempts to merely understand and recognize human beings.Since whether the person perceives the product or service as pleasing depends on the chronological history such as what cognitive features the person has, what history, and under what circumstances this person grew up, we decided to treat the chronological history explicity. Therefore, since the emphasis will be on the person who changes over time and the detailed description of the cognitive process of the person placed under a situation, we call this method the cognitive chrono-ethnography (CCE) by adding chrono- (for time) and cognitive to ethnography. 3.3 Elite monitor and critical parametersThrough joint researches with companies that wanted to investigate the human cognitive behavior for constructing a product or service, we have developed the cognitive chrono-ethnography method, as we applied the retrospective interview method as a practical method using the recorded images of the behavior scenes using a small camera attached to the head. This was used for studying the daily scenes such as the behavior of elderly people in train stations or driving automobiles. While the details cannot be described fully due to the limitation of space of the paper, it was found that the behavioral characteristics for individuals could be clarified by selecting certain types of subjects based on preliminary hypothesis, and using them as the participants of the experiment. In the case of the behavior of elderly people in train stations, we set the hypothesis that there were differences in the cognitive functions of the elderly and these cause differences in the behavior. We hypothesized that there were people with impaired attentive functions, working memory functions, and planning functions. The hypothesis was investigated by creating an experimental procedure that may reveal these differences[12]. Starting with the hypothesis, the method for selecting a typical person based on the hypothesis is considered (in the above example, the AIST cognitive function test was developed), the actions of the different types of selected people are compared, and the difference in the behavioral characteristics of individuals is clarified to verify the hypothesis. The experimental participant with typical characteristics is called the elite monitor. By using the elite monitor, it is possible to obtain hints for the product or service design for a certain characteristicNote 6). By integrating the abductive research method for hypothesizing the difference in characteristics and the retrospective interview method, we constructed the cognitive chrono-ethnography method that will provide useful findings for the product or service design.While the ethnography research places importance on describing everything as they are, in the approach of synthesiological method for designing the product or service, it is important to seek the critical parameters that can be used for design. The critical parameters include, for example, the parameter to determine whether the experiment participant is a target user, or the timing of information presentation that gives the impression that the provided information is useful. Therefore, if the candidates for the critical parameters are found through preliminary observation study, the experiment using the actual scenes is conducted by controlling and recording the critical parameters. When the elite monitors

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