Practical Ethnographic Research

Monday, June 5, 2017
Pre-conference course

1. PRACTICAL UX METHODOLOGY:
ETHNOGRAPHY
Sarah [email protected]@sarah_eden@UEGRoup

2. 2
•Introductions
•How I Think of
Research
•Overview of
Ethnography
•Ethnography
Etiquette
•Learning How to
Observe
•Interactive
Activity
INTRO
•Empathy
•Observation &
Note taking
•Learning How to
Interview
•Interactive
Activity
•Extending
Ethnographies
•Reporting
•Designing a
Study
•Interactive
Activity
12

3. 3
ABOUT ME
Welcome
SARAHGARCIA
Sleuth
A senior UX researcher with a
background in market research.
Sarah brings business and
marketing savvy to the research
she takes on and her unique
perspective has profited
companies such as Disney
Interactive Labs, Dell Computer,
Stryker, Intel and DirectTV.
Sarah garcia, uegroupinc—chi2017

4. 4
About UEGroup
Sarah Garcia, UEGroup Inc. CHI 2017

5. 5
Some of
Our clients

6. 6
Natural born researcher
MORE ABOUT ME
Sarah Garcia, UEGroup Inc. CHI 2017

7. 7
Natural Born Questioner
ABOUT ME
Sarah Garcia, UEGroup Inc. CHI 2017
“Who are they?”
“What if….?”
“What would
happen if…?”
“What is the backstory?”
“What is going
on there?”

8. 8
Student of Humans
ABOUT ME
Sarah Garcia, UEGroup Inc. CHI 2017

9. 9
Entrepreneur
Tech Geek
Early Adopter
Lifetime Silicon Valley Resident
ABOUT ME
Sarah Garcia, UEGroup Inc. CHI 2017

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Things aren’t
always what
they seem
HOW I THINK OF RESEARCH
Sarah Garcia, UEGroup Inc. CHI 2017

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Context is Key
HOW I THINK OF RESEARCH
Sarah Garcia, UEGroup Inc. CHI 2017

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There are a lot
of details to
study
HOW I THINK OF RESEARCH
Sarah Garcia, UEGroup Inc. CHI 2017

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But they are
part of a
bigger picture
HOW I THINK OF RESEARCH
Sarah Garcia, UEGroup Inc. CHI 2017

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??
??
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
RESEARCH IS ALL ABOUT QUESTIONS

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Would they
use it?
Lots of questions
Where are my
customers having
trouble?
How do we
compare to our
competitors?
Which design is better?
Where are the
opportunities to rise
above my competitors?
Sarah Garcia, UEGroup Inc. CHI 2017
How are my
customers using
our service?
What opportunities
exist to delight my
customers?Why aren’t they doing
that?
How can we improve
the experience?

16. 16Sarah Garcia, UEGroup Inc. CHI 2017
Lots of ways to get answers
Approach
Data source
qualitative Quantitative
behavioral
attitudinal
What people do
Why&
How to fix
Howmany&
How much?
What people say
Adapted from Christian Rohrer’s article “When to Use Which User
Experience Research Methods” October 6, 2008

17. 17Sarah Garcia, UEGroup Inc. CHI 2017
Lots of ways to get the answers
approach
Data source
qualitative quantitative
behavioral
attitudinal
Eye tracking
Usability lab studies
benchmarking
Out of box experiences
Interceptive surveys
Diary studies
Ethnographic field
studies
Participatory design
Focus group
Card sortingsurveys
Adapted from Christian Rohrer’s article “When to Use Which User
Experience Research Methods” October 6, 2008

18. 18Sarah Garcia, UEGroup Inc. CHI 2017
Ethnography
When you want to see why and wHere
your customers are using your product and with what
environmental influences.
approach
Data source
qualitative quantitative
behavioral
attitudinal
Ethnographic field
studies
Adapted from Christian Rohrer’s article “When to Use Which User
Experience Research Methods” October 6, 2008

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ETHNOGRAPHY
OVERVIEW

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NATURAL
ECOSYSTEM
ethnography
Sarah Garcia, UEGroup Inc. CHI 2017
Anthropology
•Study people’s cultural practices
& beliefs
•Participant observation
•Years of study
Corporate Setting
•Study how people use products &
services within their worlds
•Shorter time span
•Look for business implications

21. 21
ethnography
Sarah Garcia, UEGroup Inc. CHI 2017
Longitudinal
studies
•Observing over a period of
time
-Repeat visits
-Diaries
Benefits
•Provides data that shows
clear patterns over time
•Good for showing
developmental trends or
changes
Drawbacks
•Risk of dropouts
•Requires a lot of resources,
including time and money
Cross-sectional
studies
•Observing a moment in time
-Representative of
typical behavior
Benefits
•Requires fewer resources;
relatively inexpensive
•No risk of drop outs
•Used to prove or disprove
assumptions
Drawbacks
•Harder to draw conclusions
•Can’t measure effects over time

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ETHNOGRAPHY IS…
ethnography

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ETHNOGRAPHY IS…
ethnography
PERSONAL
EXCITING
useful
INSIGHTFUL
HUMBLING
MEANINGFUL
EYE-OPENING
MAKING CONNECTIONS
TOUCHING
FUNRICH in data
INTERESTING

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BUT IT IS ALSO…
ethnography
EXHAUSTING
HARD
INCONVENIENT
EMOTIONALLY INTENSE
Time-consuming
LOTS OF EFFORT
PEOPLE OVERLOAD
CREATES LOTS OF DATA
TO SIFT THROUGH

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So why do
ethnographies?

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THERE IS NO BETTER WAY
To get a glimpse into people’s
lives, in their natural
environmentand observe the
things that people would never
say (or admit to)

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Ethnography
etiquette

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BAD
RESEARCHER
VS. Good
researcher

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Is Prepared. IS Flexible. KEEPS THEIR COOL.
A GOOD RESEARCHER

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Ethnography etiquette
A GOOD
RESEARCHER
Brings a
Buddy.

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A GOOD RESEARCHER
Brings
THE RIGHT
Buddy.

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A GOOD RESEARCHER
PUTS ASIDE PERSONAL
AGENDAS OR
PRECONCEIEVED NOTIONS

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A GOOD RESEARCHER
KNOWS THAT:
PEOPLE
RESEARCH

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Ethnography etiquette
A GOOD
RESEARCHER
Is there to:
Learn
observe
LISTEN
Discover
Speak for the people

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Designing a study
DON’T
•Be late
•Touch articles in participant’s home/office unless asked to do so
•Take pictures or video without asking
•Interrupt
•Use the participant’s restroom
•Wear any clothing branded with your company logo
•Use your computer to take notes
•Have your phone on

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Designing a study
DO
•Thank the participant for inviting you into their home/office
•Think about the best camera angles for viewing
•Check the camera frequently to make sure it is recording
•Ask to visit areas of the home/office that they reference during the
session
•Listen
•Ask follow up questions if you don’t understand
•Enjoy this unique opportunity!

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ethnography
Sarah Garcia, UEGroup Inc. CHI 2017
Go observe ask
listenDiscover overall
context
Look for what’s not
being said

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Learning how
to observe

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WHAT DOES IT
MEAN TO
OBSERVE?
LEARNING HOW TO OBSERVE

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Put on new
glasses.
“Listen with
your eyes”
LEARNING HOW TO OBSERVE

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1.What motivates them?
2.Are there workarounds?
3.What is important to them? What do
they value?
4.Are there any physical responses?
5.Is there any repetition or order being
followed?
6.Anything surprising?
What to look for
WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN OBSERVING

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INTERACTIVE
ACTIVITY: What’s
in your bag?

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What motivates them?
Are there workarounds?
What is important to them?
What do they value?
Is there any repetition or order
being followed?
Anything surprising?
What Questions would you
follow up with?
INTERACTIVE
ACTIVITY
Sarah Garcia, UEGroup Inc. CHI 2017

44. 44
INTERACTIVE
ACTIVITY
Sarah Garcia, UEGroup Inc. CHI 2017

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What motivates them?
Are there workarounds?
What is important to them?
What do they value?
Is there any repetition or order
being followed?
Anything surprising?
What Questions would you
follow up with?
INTERACTIVE
ACTIVITY
Sarah Garcia, UEGroup inc.CHI 2017

46. 46
What motivates them?
Are there workarounds?
What is important to them?
What do they value?
Is there any repetition or order
being followed?
Anything surprising?
What Questions would you
follow up with?
OBSERVING

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What motivates them?
Are there workarounds?
What is important to them?
What do they value?
Is there any repetition or order
being followed?
Anything surprising?
What Questions would you
follow up with?
OBSERVING

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What motivates them?
Are there workarounds?
What is important to them?
What do they value?
Is there any repetition or order
being followed?
Anything surprising?
What Questions would you
follow up with?
OBSERVING

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INNOVATION LIES IN THE
WORKAROUNDS.
LEARNING HOW TO OBSERVE

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empathy

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EMPATHYVS. SYMPATHY

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SYMPATHY VS. EMPATHY
https://youtu.be/1Evwgu369Jw?t=6s

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EMPATHY
Gets down in the
hole
VS.
SYMPATHY
Looks down
into the hole

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Putting yourself in the shoes of
the person you are designing for.
•Observation
•Interviews
•Thought exercises
•Experiential Exercises
EMPATHY

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What could we do to GAIN BETTER
EMPATHY FOR Our Customer?
•Observation
•Interviews
•Thought exercises
•Experiential Exercises
EMPATHY

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How did you feel?
What did you learn?
What would you want, if this
was your reality?
REMEMBERING THE EXPERIENCE

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It’s not easy.
It should make you
uncomfortable.
It is exhausting.
(Give yourself time to decompress.)
EMPATHY

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LEARNING HOW
TO Interview

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GOAL: empathize
with who you are
interviewing

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HOW TO INTERVIEW
1.Ask unrestricted questions
2.Ask for examples
3.Start broad and finish deep
4.Be human (body language, presence)
5.Be mindful of what they say versus what they do

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Semi-structured interviews
follow a discussion guide to maintain the scope
of the conversation but allows for improvising

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•Ask them to tell a story
•Instead of “Why? Say, tell me
about that…”
•“Feel free to think out loud.”
•Ask simple & sincere questions
•Pause, listen
•Stay neutral
GET TO THE BOTTOM OF IT

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Introductions
Goal
Conversation
Finding the story
“Aha!” moment
Get to the bottom of it
Thank Yous
Emotional highpoint
Adapted from IDEO U, Conducting a Great Interview 2015
Get to the bottom of it
•Ask them to tell a story
•“Why? Tell me about that?”
•“Feel free to think out loud.”
•Ask simple & sincere questions
•Pause, listen
•Stay neutral

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Leave people better than how
you found them.

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LEADING VS NON LEADING QUESTIONS
“Think about all the problems
associated with using a remote
control. Imagine using
something that you already have
with you while you are watching
TV anyway, that could be used
to control your TV screen. Don’t
you think it would be cool to use
your smartphone as a
touchscreen remote?”

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LEADING VS NON LEADING QUESTIONS
“Think about all the problems
associated with using a remote
control. Imagine using
something that you already have
with you while you are watching
TV anyway, that could be used
to control your TV screen. Don’t
you think it would be cool to use
your smartphone as a
touchscreen remote?”
“Tell me about your experiences
using a remote control for your
TV. What do you like/not like?
Describe to me how you would
want the experience to be
better? Now, let’s imagine you
have an app that is loaded onto
your smartphone that interacts
with the TV—how would you
imagine that working? What
would be easy or difficult?”
vs.

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INTERVIEW
practice

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LEARN ABOUT SOMEONE ELSE
1.Introduction
2.The Why
3.Connect
4.Find a narrative
5.Get meaningful feedback
6.Final thoughts & thank you

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•Identify what you want to learn: •How they made their travel plans? •How do they look for places to eat?•How did they decide to purchase the bag
they have?
•Warm up questions
•3 questions related to your research
objectives
•2 questions related to themes of
interest
Reflect
•How was the interview?
•What did you learn?
•What would you do differently?
LEARN ABOUT A SOMEONE ELSE
1.Introduction
2.The Why
3.Connect
4.Find a narrative
5.Get meaningful feedback
6.Final thoughts & thank you

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DEBRIEF
•Careful not to make the first question too hard!
•Instead of: “What makes you do this?” Say: “Let’s
imagine…”. Or “Tell me about the last time”
•Watch the language: “How do you consume media?”
Be more relatable
•Be friendly but be careful not to be too judgmental
“That’s really cool”
•Careful not to bring in too much of your own
experience

71. 71
DEBRIEF
•“Sounds like you are really tech savvy” (keep that
internal dialogue)
•Reflecting back “You mentioned you…..tell me a little
more about that”
•When you are stuck, “Shift gears”
•It’s okay to make some suggestions--just make several
•”Why” can be interpreted as accusatory

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INTERVIEW
IMPROV

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•2 minute interviews with a partner
•Pick a topic/persona
•Pick from the hat
Reflect
•How was the interview?
•What did you learn?
•What would you do differently?
PRACTICE Pick a Persona:
One Word Answer
Tells You What You Want To Hear
Talkative
Change the Subject
Overly Positive
Overly Negative

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DESIGNING A
STUDY

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Ethnographic approach
IT’S ALL ABOUT
THE ATTITUDE
Discussion
guide vs. scriptReady to learnOpen to new ideas

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Designing a study
CREATING A RESEARCH PLAN
•Identify the questions you want answered
•Who will you talk to? How many?
•Where will you go?
•What extremes will you consider?
•What will you observe? When? Who? Where?
•What questions will you ask?

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Designing a study
1. Research
Objectives
3. Observation 4. Interview Warm Up
2. Introduction
and Set Up
5. Discussion on
What Was
Observed
7. More
Specific
Questions
8. Concept
Feedback, “What
If?”
ANATOMY OF A RESEARCH PLAN
6. Broader
Questions
9. Final
Thoughts
10. Thank You

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Designing a study
ANATOMY OF A RESEARCH PLAN
•Has the end in mind
•Is neutral, not leading
•Incorporates appropriate metrics
•Takes session time into consideration
•Leaves room for unexpected outcomes

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You’re doing
research for a new
voice assistant,
and you want to
know how people
around the world
would use a voice
assistant in their
family living areas.
Go to the field: Interactive Activity
Here are the questions:
•Who lives in the space?
•Where would they need an
assistant the most?
•Why would they use a voice
assistant?
How do we find the
answers?
•Identify the questions you want
answered
•Who will you talk to? How
many?
•Where will you go?
•What extremes will you
consider?
•What will you observe? When?
Who? Where?
•What questions will you ask?
Interactive
Activity

80. 80
ETHNOGRAPHY CHECKLIST
Sarah garcia, UEGRoupInc. CHI 2017
þIdentify thequestion(s) you want answered
þDecide on typeof ethnography
þIdentify the right participant(s)
þRecruit & Schedule
þWrite DiscussionGuide
þVisit
•Bring the right person with you
•Allowplenty of time
•Come prepared! (Bring cameras, allow for plenty of travel/parking time)
•Ask follow up questions
•Listen for what is NOT being said
•Longitudinalstudy instructions
þAnalyzeresults
þReport

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TAKING NOTES

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Observations & Note Taking
Questions for
follow-up
Salient themessurprisesWants & needs
Areas of
innovation

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Your notes =
your report
TAKING NOTES

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•Quotes
•What works? What didn’t work?
•Issues/Opportunities
•Unique insights
•Beliefs & Values
•Inspiration/Ideas
•Insights/Themes
•”Best of” images
•Images (Context, participant,
meaningful artifacts)
•Story telling
KEEP TRACK
Your notes =
your report

85. 85
•Quotes
•What works? What
didn’t work?
•Issues/Opportunities
•Unique insights
•Beliefs & Values
•Inspiration/Ideas
•Insights/Themes
•”Best of” images
•Images (Context,
participant, meaningful
artifacts)
•Story telling
INTERACTIVE ACTIVITY

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Learnings
What was
hard or easy
about
observation
and note
taking?
If you could
do a follow-
up interview,
what would
you ask?
What were
some themes
that you
heard?

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TAKING NOTES
•Have a plan
•Prioritize questions
•Take notes so you don’t have to watch
the video
•Leave the laptop behind
•Bring a clipboard/notebook suitable
for experience
•Have your research partner take
notes—it’s hard to be the interviewer
and take proper notes (but be specific)
•Be prepared to deal with messy notes
(all the more reason for a ”brain
dump”)

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SYNC UP
MAKE SURE
EVERYONE ON
YOUR TEAM
KNOWS WHAT IS
EXPECTED.

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MAKE USE OF THE RESEARCH PLAN

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MAKE USE OF THE RESEARCH PLAN
Be organized
Separate themes and
thoughts
Allow for follow up
questions
Do what works for
you.

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MAKE USE OF THE RESEARCH PLAN
Take notes for what
you want to ask later
Keep track of time to
mark for video clips
or reminders to re-
watch
Write down good
“quotes”

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ADAPT TO THE SITUATION
•Smaller Notebooks
•Tape guide into Notebook
•Post it note
•Phone as a last resort

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IMMEDIATELY
1.Find a quiet space
2.Review notes
3.Fill in the gaps based on memory
4.Mark where you need to review the video or confer with others
5.Pull out the main themes
WITHIN THE WEEK
1.Type up notes, fill in the gaps and produce document for sharing
BRAIN DUMP BEST PRACTICE

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FINALIZED NOTES BECOME USEFUL TOOLS

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PRODUCE A DOC WITH HIGH LEVEL THEMES THAT’S EASY TO SHARE

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reporting

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THE BETTER YOUR SUMMARIES ARE,
the easier reporting will be
REPORTING

98. 98
REPORTING
THE RESULTS
Sarah Garcia, UEGroup Inc. CHI 2017
SO MUCH DATA!—
Where to start?

99. 99
•What themes are present?
•Are personas emerging?
•Keep track of ideas inspired by results
LOOK FOR THEMES
What’s the
story?

100. 100
•Who needs to see the results?
•What style of
reporting/communication is most
effective to the people that need to
hear it?
•How will the legacy of this research
live on?
WHO’S LISTENING?

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REPORTING
THE RESULTS
Sarah Garcia, UEGroup Inc. CHI 2017
Traditional
reports
Word clouds
TimelinesPersonasInfographics
Emotional
journeys
Video clips

102. 102
bored
Reporting through word clouds
Vulnerable
casual
disappointed
No-goal
alone
Skeptical
critic
ashamed
bashful
sorrowful
upset
cheerless

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Reporting through infographics

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Reporting through heat maps

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Reporting
through
emotional
journeys
Youxemotions.com

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VIDEO CLIPS
Let the
research
speak for
itself

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Reporting
through
personas

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EXTENDING THE
ETHNOGRAPHY

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Getting more out of ethnographies
ethnography
Interceptive textsDiary studies follow up
interviews

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STRUCTURE THE RESEARCH TO Get the best information
FOLLOW UP INTERVIEWS
Diary Studies
ethnography
follow up
interview
Post observation
interview
Pre-interview

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What is a diary study?
When to use them?
How?
DIARY STUDIES
Diary Studies

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What are interceptive
texts?
When to use them?
How?
INTERCEPTIVE TEXTS
Diary Studies

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RESPONSES
Interceptive text
Helps us get an
unexpected snapshot
into the lives of the
participant.

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QUESTIONS
•Take a picture of where and how everyone is sitting right
now
•Take a picture of what other objects or devices are in the
room with you while you are watching video programming
•Take a picture of where you are eating dinner. Is there
video programming on? Can you see it?
•Describe the exact process you took to get to watch you
are watching.
•What are you watching right now? How did you decide on
that exact show? Were there other shows being
considered? Was it a compromise for everyone?
Interceptive text

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“Who is watching tv
right now?”

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RESPONSES
Interceptive text

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RESPONSES
Interceptive text

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“WHERE ARE YOUR
REMOTES?”

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Interceptive text
Sarah Garcia, UEGRoupInc. CHI 2017

122. 122
Babysitting
Watching something on her laptop, while the
TV was also on and muted because she
didn’t know how to turn off the TV after the
kids had gone to bed.
RESPONSES

123. 123
Thank you!
Uegroup.com
408.297.2445
Sarah garcia
sarah@uegroup| @sarah_eden