The IIT Institute of Design is a graduate school of design dedicated to advancing the methods and practice of human-centered innovation.

We believe that real innovation starts with users' needs and employs a set of reliable methods, theories, and tools to create solutions to their problems.

Ethnography and interviewing are how we, as designers, see the world through other people's eyes and get them to tell us their stories.

In the spring of 2008, we talked to professors, experts, and students about this philosophical orientation and how to actually get people to talk.

To ground things a bit, we took a look at a truly universal article of clothing – denim jeans – and set out to understand: "Who's buying premium denim and why?"

[ Copyright © 2008 Gabriel Biller & Kristy Scovel ]