Sociologist Everett Rogers, Diffusion of Innovations, tracked how humans relate to new things, and when and how they make a decision to use them. Diffusion of Innovations Lab explores three aspects of his wonderful work. First, we will track the path of the adopter of an innovation, studying the steps people make in decision-making.

Second, we look at his insights pertaining to the qualities of the innovation and how it influences whether or not, or how quickly, people take it up, i.e., adopt the innovation. If we recognize these qualities, we can design around our weaknesses and build on our strengths. We can work from what Buckminster Fuller calls "anticipatory design."

 Third, we examine the Adoption Curve, which measures the rate of diffusion among groups of people. It is common in marketing lingo, for example, to hear about “early adopters.” What is not common is a deep understanding of the characteristics, social norms, and patterns of various categories of adopters. Who are we speaking to? The “late majority?” What are the characteristics of the pioneers and early adopters? How can understanding these characteristics help us diffuse our innovations?