chipchase

Chipchase had the pick of the firm's studios around the world, but says there was no doubt that he wanted to be in China.

Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, the former chief executive of Nokia, quipped that Chipchase was the company's Indiana Jones.

At the last count, Chipchase has run field studies in at least 36 countries, from Kenya to Kazakhstan.

Mr Chipchase's discovery that poor people often share their phones prompted the company to make handsets with multiple address books.

Once you understand that link, Chipchase says, you might be able to predict -- or shape -- what the future will look like.

"The way you make a copy, the nuance, is one form of innovation, " says Chipchase.

"Every time I go out, I want to see something that challenges my perception of what I know, " Chipchase says.

Still, it can be hard for Chipchase to explain exactly what he does for a living.

Chipchase has just given a talk to 300 or so designers and technologists -- his first major speaking engagement since moving to Shanghai.

Two minutes later, Chipchase approaches another stall.

Chipchase, mouth agape, takes out the Canon 5D camera that he uses to catalogue almost everything he sees.

Chipchase made his name working for the world's largest producer of handsets, Nokia.

After casting around for work, Chipchase scored a job as a user-experience manager in one of Nokia's local research centres.

One of Nokia's in-house anthropologists, Jan Chipchase, recently investigated how people carry their phones, for example.