Yes. a few years back I had the good fortune of participating as an embedded member of an IDEO design team when a former employer hired them. They spent an ent

Yes. a few years back I had the good fortune of participating as an embedded member of an IDEO design team when a former employer hired them. They spent an entire month exclusively on researching the specific problem area we were tackling, conducting in-home interviews with customers and even casually observing them browsing relevant aisles at retail stores. Actual design work didn't even get started until well over halfway through the engagement, after the extensive research revealed where the big opportunities were for a new product.