Note: The usual weirdness when exporting from Keynote. For some reason, sometimes the type turns blue for no reason. And other assorted typographical munging of shadows, etc. _______________________________ Wielded correctly, video ethnography is one of the most powerful tools in the UX professional's toolkit. It allows for unfiltered voice of the customer to drive design decisions and more importantly, is extremely advantageous in influencing key decision makers. This presentation covers the basics and provides additional tips to avoid situations any rookie is liable to make. Armed with no more than some inexpensive to moderately priced tools and some planning, you can take your future data-inspired projects to the next level. But like any powerful tool (think chainsaw), there can be downsides. Let my mistakes be your guide in avoiding pitfalls. What You Will Learn: What is ethnography, specifically video ethnography? How to prepare for working in the field Quantify the data Completing the report Case Study Lessons learned

1. video
ethno
graphy
industrial strength
Joe Dyer, ux manager
Sabre travel network
@JoePLANET

2. titles i have held
MANAGER, USER EXPERIENCE
SENIOR UX DESIGNER
SENIOR INFORMATION ARCHITECT
UX ARCHITECT
SENIOR WEB PRODUCER
INTERACTION DESIGNER
DIRECTOR OF NEW MEDIA
VIDEO PRODUCER
adjunct college instructor
COMBAT CAMERA TEAM LEADER
captain, united states air force
a word about me
experience Designer. musician. father. @JoePLANET

3. what
makes
this so
industrial?

4. voc
what
makes
DATA
this so VIDEO
industrial?
yeah, i really like lists of three

5. cocktail of
influence

6. Section 1
what is video ethnography

7. ETHNO+GRAPHY =
1. The study of cultures
2. The study of human social phenomena and
communities
3. Considered a branch of cultural anthropology
“As UX Designers, we’re
primarily concerned with how we
can use such research to solve a
problem through the
introduction or revision of
technology.” - Nathanael Boehm
ethnography
First, what is ethnography? @JoePLANET
cita%on:
001

8. Ethnography is
the social
equivalent of
usability testing. - Nathanael Boehm
ethnography
First, what is ethnography? @JoePLANET
cita%on:
001

9. VIDEO+ETHNOGRAPHY =
1. Observation, including filming of
practitioners
2. The study of observed behaviors for
improving product or service
3. The use of obtained footage and direct voice
of the customer
As UX Designers, this is familiar territory.
ethnography
First, what is ethnography? @JoePLANET
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10. PASSIVE OBSERVATION & INTERVIEWS
To design a system, it’s important to first understand
how the people on teams work together and/or within
their environment.
you can still apply the techniques of1-on-1 interviews,
focus groups, surveys, and card sorts to extract that
information, it’s also important to observe subjects in
action while they work.
ethnography
First, what is ethnography? @JoePLANET
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11. 2
types of field notes

12. ETHNOGRAPHIC FIELD NOTES
descriptions of the scene
hysical aspec ts of the work
D escribe the p
environmen t including:
e layout of w orkstations
• th
desk space and clutter
•
n and convers ation areas
•collaboratio
ethnography
First, what is ethnography? @JoePLANET
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003

13. ETHNOGRAPHIC FIELD NOTES
photography and video
Taking notes of observations is
not enough
you Must be able to analyze all
notes and present analysis - in
a meaningful, and credible way
ethnography
First, what is ethnography? @JoePLANET
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14. OUR PROCESS
Analyzing Data
Creating Video
Preparing for and Identifying
In the Field and Other
Field Work Actionable
Deliverables
Opportunities
Ongoing engagement and collaboration stakeholders and leadership
ethnography
First, what is ethnography? @JoePLANET
cita%on:
004

15. Section 2
preparing for field work

16. goals
gear
documents
field work
another list of three @JoePLANET

17. goals
general research questions
what are you trying to
improve? to solve?
field work
how to prepare @JoePLANET
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004

18. goals
organizational
alignment?
field work
how to prepare @JoePLANET

19. ET
@Jo ePLAN
warning

20. goals
budgetary •team resources
•editing
concerns
•fieldwork travel
•gifts
field work
how to prepare @JoePLANET
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004

21. @JoePLANET
gear
@JoePLANET

22. Canon EF
50mm f/1.4
Canon EF 50mm
f/1.8 II
DSLR CAMERA BODY
128 GB HI-SPEED SD
TRAVEL TRIPOD
LIGHTS CAMERA traction
the essentials @JoePLANET

23. usb snake light
CF card
reader
POWER PLUG
ADAPTER
POWER PLUG
iPAD PHOTO KIT ADAPTER 6-FOOT USB CABLE
ephemera and odd bits
worth their weight in gold in a pinch @JoePLANET

24. ULTIMATE CAMERA ACCESSORY
use as a preview monitor for still
photos and video
iphoto app for post production
imovie app for hi-level editing
storage for maxxed SD cards
data-collection
the apple ipad
a swiss army knife of field notes @JoePLANET

25. documents
field work
how to prepare @JoePLANET

26. documents
a call screener gain access
a model release organizational alignment
standardized notes quantify the data
field work
how to prepare @JoePLANET

27. Section
quantify the data
3

28. nothing helps clarify
product design and ux
activities quite like
reliable data 10%
38%
24%
29%
n! I’m a scientist
par$cipant
a par$cipant
b par$cipant
c par$cipant
d
back off, ma
QUANTIFY THE DATA
Oh, people can come up with statistics to prove anything, Kent. @JoePLANET
40% of all people know that. - Homer Simpson cita%on:
005,
007

29. open and subjective
how to
structure
interview and
objective
questions
closed
quantify the data
open and closed interview questions @JoePLANET

30. # TENURE number of years
THINGS YOU WOULD CHANGE subject voc
# CURRENT TOOLS inventory
# # # # OVERALL RATING (1-9) quantifying
# WEB SITES USED inventory
what about this feature? subject voc
# HARDWARE/ENVIRONMENT inventory
# rank the ORDER OF IMPORTANCE subject voc
WORTHY OF MENTION subject voc
quantify the data
types of things to ask during the interview @JoePLANET

31. in
the
field
proceed with caution

32. video
prod
tips
for interviews
@JoePLANET
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004

33. CAMERA PLACE MENT & MOVEMENT
• Use an unobtrusive tripod to • Get physically close to your
stabilize your shots subject
• Avoid panning and zooming of • Place camera at eye level with
camera. the subject
• think like you are shooting a • Frame your interview to give
documentary; minimal your speaker enough head
room
• Select a neutral background
video production tips
for interviews @JoePLANET
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004

34. The videographer should
refrain from note-taking
whenever possible
the
interviewer
the
videographer
InterviewTime
with Finn and JAKE
@JoePLANET

35. eye level
neutral
background
Off-axis, 2-camera shot
external Mic
frame the interview
close to subject
video production tips
putting it all together; documentary does not mean dull @JoePLANET

37. crisp subject
@JoePLANET
soft bokeh

38. • Make sure you have enough
light for a quality exposure
• Do not place your subject in
front of a window
(avoid backlight)
• close curtains and blinds
and turn on room lights
• try not to mix sunlight and
indoor lighting
lighting tips
but you already knew this stuff, right? @JoePLANET
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004

39. NO FBI INFORMANTS

40. • BE A QUIET, ACTIVE LISTENER • BRING A FEW BATH TOWELS
- BE EMPATHETIC IF YOU CAN TO COVER TABLES
- NOD, DON’T TALK
- DON’T SAY ‘UH HUH”
• if you can use an
• ALLOW SUBJECT TO external mic, use it
COMPLETE SENTENCES
BEFORE SPEAKING.
• GET CLOSE TO THE SUBJECT
PHYSICALLY WITH A MIC
• REDUCE ANY AMBIENT NOISE
YOU CAN
audio INTERVIEW tips
because $200 cameras don’t have $200 microphones @JoePLANET
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41. Section
the final report
4

42. ingredients of the
final report @JoePLANET

43. THE FINAL REPORT
ESTABLISHING SHOTS @JoePLANET

44. THE FINAL REPORT
DETAILED SHOTS @JoePLANET

45. use of sticky Notes
THE FINAL REPORT
DETAILED SHOTS @JoePLANET

46. THE FINAL REPORT
DETAILED SHOTS @JoePLANET

47. THINK
PERSONAE
THE FINAL REPORT
INDIVIDUAL DOSSIERS @JoePLANET

48. edited video
written
analysis
still
images
dossiers
THE FINAL REPORT
putting all the parts together

49. video, the new
powerpoint
TELEVISION
edited video
written tons o’ data
analysis DATA-INSPIRED
still
images
dossiers voice of the
customer VOC
remember how powerful this is?

50. video ethnography
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
industrial strength
a plan for conducting video ethnography
standardized field notes
Video interviews
general establishing/detailed photos
questions
edit video
select gain collect interpret assemble
subjects access data data report
deliver
results
@JoePLANET

51. Section
a case study
5

52. The following tale of video ethnography is
true. And by true, I mean false. It’s all lies.
But they’re entertaining lies. And in the end,
isn’t that the real truth? The answer is, No.

53. - hergÉ -
the adventures of
Joe Joe
cha pter 5: t he seven german age n ts

54. ch a pt e r 5: t h e se ve n g er m a n ag e n t s
hamburg
AGENCY VISITS
7 LOCATIONS
germany
8 interviews Mönchengladbach
3 cities kÖln
Agents were observed and
interviewed for 90-120 minutes.

55. ch a pt e r 5: t h e se ve n g er m a n ag e n t s
actual slide used to
update the project
team circa: dec 2011
BY THE
NUMBERS

56. ch a pt e r 5: t h e se ve n g er m a n ag e n t s
user demographic data
currente n s o r e ddislikes
likes and
c a vs. product B
Product

57. Section
Lessons learned
6

58. Apollo
Creed
‘school of hard knocks’
@JoePLANET
cita%on:
008

59. call
centers
lessons learned
aka ‘the apollo creed school of hard knocks’ @JoePLANET

60. move the interview location
@JoePLANET

61. aws
cy l
iva
pr
@JoePLANET

62. plan
ahead
lessons learned
aka ‘the apollo creed school of hard knocks’ @JoePLANET

63. be
warned
@JoePLANET

64. stick
to
your
forms
@JoePLANET

65. ADDITIONAL LESSONS ...
1. Off-camera audio is better for compression
and equalization but harder to edit
2. Paying participants was harder
3. videographer should’t have been taking notes
4. The effects of looking so darn good
“How much did we pay for this again?!”
lessons learned
aka ‘the apollo creed school of hard knocks’ @JoePLANET

66. some
thoughts on the oh so
deliciously fun
nightmare that can
be video editing
@JoePLANET

67. LISA: OK, I finished editing the
gardening sequence.
HOMER: OK, from here we star wipe
to a glamour shot of Flanders
paying his bills, then we star wipe
to Flanders brushing his teeth.
LISA: Dad, there are other wipes
besides star wipes!
HOMER: Why eat hamburger when
you can have steak?
video production tips
don’t take any production cues from this guy @JoePLANET
cita%on:
006

68. video ethnography
think
industrial strength
@JoePLANET Pbs

69. EDITING SUITES adobe premiere
imovie
final cut pro
video production tips
there is no shortage of choices in software @JoePLANET

70. video ethnography
IN CLOSING
industrial strength
process recap
standardized field notes
Video interviews
general establishing/detailed photos
questions
edit video
select gain collect interpret assemble
subjects access data data report
deliver
results
field prep
@JoePLANET

71. IN CLOSING
LIST OF THREES recap
influencers drink ingredients supergroup members
voc cobra fang juice jimi hendrix
data hydrogen bitters Sting
video Old Panther michael jackson
@JoePLANET

72. BLAKE RAMICK MARY POE CHRISTINE IMAIZUMI YOUNG KIM
senior
ux
designer senior
ux
designer senior
ux
designer senior
ux
designer
we’re hiring
meet my team
finest ux team in the trav tech industry @JoePLANET

73. thank
you
@JoePLANET just kidding, cheer all you like
www. newtrality.com

74. references
cita%on
001:
Ethnography
entry
on
wikipedia:
h>p://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnography
Nathanael
Boehm
quote:
h>p://www.uxma>ers.com/mt/archives/2010/06/
ethnography-­‐in-­‐ux.php
cita%on
002:
Video
Ethnography
entry
on
wikipedia:
h>p://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_ethnography
cita%on
003:
Ethnography
in
UX
by
Nathanael
Boehm:
h>p://www.uxma>ers.com/mt/archives/
2010/06/ethnography-­‐in-­‐ux.php
cita%on
004:
GeQng
Started
in
Video
Ethnography
by
Kaiser
Permanente:
h>p://kpcmi.org/news/
ethnography/video-­‐ethnography-­‐tool-­‐kit.pdf
cita%on
005:
Ghostbusters
(1984)
h>p://www.imdb.com/%tle/>0087332/
“Back
off
man,
I’m
a
scien%st”
h>p://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEbSABWJiJc
cita%on
006:
Simpsons
episode
BABF10,
‘Alone
Again,
Natura-­‐Diddly’
h>p://www.snpp.com/
episodes/BABF10
cita%on
007:
Simpsons
episode
1F09,
‘Homer
Vigilante‘
h>p://www.snpp.com/episodes/1F09.html
Homer’s
Sta%s%cs
quote:
h>p://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j2Duy_xzEA
cita%on
008:
Apollo
Creed
School
of
Hard
Knocks
is
a
bona
fide
internet
meme:
h>ps://www.google.com/search?aq=0&oq=apollo+creed+school+of+hard
+&sugexp=chrome,mod=14&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-­‐8&q=the+apollo+creed+school
+of+hard+knocks
Presenta%on
based
on
a
highly
modified
template
by
Tamauro:
h>p://graphicriver.net/
user/Tamauro
Created while listening to what’s going on by marvin gaye and kind of blue by miles davis
photos used in this presentation are split evenly between my own photography and
some stock photos from photos.com copyrighted images used under fair use and
obtained with google