Commercial Ethnography Euro Ia 2008 Kalbach

Commercial Ethnography Innovating Information Experiences

James Kalbach
User Experience Design LexisNexis
LIS Degree Rutgers University

Direct Observations
Natural Setting
Participant Observers
‘ Thick Descriptions’
Life is Complex Image from: www.pbase.com/drasko/mindoro_tribes

Holistic
Ethnography is… Observational Qualitative Context Engagement Naturalistic Subject centred Naivety Flexible Evolving Thick Descriptions

a.k.a.
Field Studies, Workplace Studies, Cultural Probes
Immersive Research, Design Ethnography
Commercial Ethnography
Meet business needs
Accelerated time scales
Focused themes
Directed observation
Strategic impact
Innovation

Beyond what people say
Unexpressed needs
Real world visible
Longevity of data
Fuels creativity
Innovation opportunities
Informs your intuition
Benefits

1 Evangelise
2 Prepare
3 Conduct
4 Analyse
5 Ideate
6 Validate
Our Approach

Demonstrate value
Cost = Usability test
Make business arguments
Business literature
Competitors
Success stories
Find a champion
1. Evangelise

P&G spends for more time living with people in there homes, shopping with them in stores, and being part of their lives . This total immersion leads to richer consumer insights, which helps identify innovation opportunities that are often missed by traditional research.
“ „

Start small - 6 participants
Outside of project lifecycle
Recruiting
Interviews at workplace
Define business objectives
2. Prepare

Observational interviews
Open questioning, but semi-structured
Exemplary tasks & typical day
Critical incident
Record audio and take photos
Bring sponsors
3. Conduct

4. Analysis Environment Industry Organisation Physical Environment Technical Setup Opportunities Pains/Pleasures Known Needs & Ideas Effectiveness/Ineffectiveness Efficiencies/Inefficiencies Workarounds Novel Technologies Artefacts Tools Resources Work Products People & Work Actors Roles Work Activities Observations

I prefer directed observation: search out the workarounds, hacks, and clever improvisations of everyday life. That’s where the answers lie: someone else has already encountered the need, someone else has already hinted at a solution.
“ „ “ Workarounds and Hacks – The Leading Edge of Innovation,” interactions (Aug 2008)

Long Way
Transcribe session
Code text with themes
Find patterns
Effort for a 2-hour interview
Transcription: very long
Coding: 8 hours
Analysis
Short Way
Spreadsheet with themes
(Re-listen to interviews)
Fill in columns
Find patterns
Effort for a 2-hour interview
Transcription: none
Coding: 2-4 hours
Data = Text + Observations

Workshop
Make findings visible
Brainstorm
Outcomes
Ideas for new products and services
Enhancements to existing product
Assign ownership
Delivering a report is not the goal
5. Ideate

Re-visit users
Discuss findings
Show them deliverables
Personas
Scenarios
Diagrams
Product ideas
In groups or individually
6. Validate

Why do lawyers prefer paper?
Habit
Reading online
Security
Backup
Dependency on third party
Portability
Annotations
Information Experience

Why do lawyers prefer paper?
Overview of information
Comparison of multiple sources
Visual aspects for organisation
Colour coding
Physical aspects for workflow
Piles to prioritize and sort
Location indicates task
Size shows how much work
Information Experience

One thing I find helpful is sometimes when matters cross boundaries, you can have three books open on your desk at the same time and refer to all of them at once. I don’t know whether that would be possible if you were looking online. “ „

“ Redefining the Reading Experience”

“ With LexisNexis, everything is the same”

We had to out-book the book “ „

Tangible UI Easy to Recognize Shareable Online > Offline “ Whenever we are organizing information, the book is too powerful an idea to do without in some form or other.“ - David Gelernter

Observe the information experience
Spend time on location
Do user research
Seek workarounds and hacks
Create ‘thick descriptions’
Focus research for business impact
Involve stakeholders
Empathy for Users = Design Intuition
Conclusions

Thank You
www.experiencinginformation.com

Commercial Ethnography Euro Ia 2008 Kalbach

by Jim Kalbach

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