The document discusses the significance of culture in design and understanding user experiences across varying contexts and regions. It highlights the importance of cultural artifacts, norms, and shared experiences in shaping behaviors, as well as the role of ethnography in revealing these insights. Additionally, it emphasizes the integration of company and customer cultures in fostering authentic connections and driving meaningful change.

1. Culture: You’re Soaking In It @ steveportigal

2. Today’s Session Highlight the power of the cultural lens We can observe artifacts of culture We can use culture to inform design process Not a “how-to” We’ll have lots of examples You tell me how it impacts your work Q&A at the end

3. Portigal Consulting is a bite-sized California firm that helps companies discover and act on new insights about their customers and themselves

4. American Lens on Global Experiences Amsterdam Kyoto London Paris Bangalore Taipei California Istanbul Indonesia

5. American Lens on Global Experiences Amsterdam Kyoto London Paris Bangalore Taipei Toronto Istanbul Indonesia Canadian

6. What is Culture?

7. What is Culture?

8. Culture How a group of people make sense of the world Common Experiences Beliefs Knowledge Values Attitudes Behaviors Meanings Patterns Symbols

9. Common Ground Those of us here today don’t all have a common cultural perspective Godel explained that you couldn’t fully describe a system from within that system. Today we’re going to describe multiple systems from in and out of another set of systems. He may be spinning in his grave.

10. You’re Soaking In It?

11. Madge Jan Miner played the “Madge the manicurist” in Palmolive ads for 27 years Is Madge an example of culture? Advertising is obviously pop culture “You’re Soaking In It” and the accompanying gesture represents a shared experience from a time and place

12. Madge: The Cultural Bridge Francoise Tilly Marissa Madge Madge

13. Beyond Manicures: Cultures We Care About Regional cultures – different places User/customer cultures – different groups of people Company/profession cultures – different organizations

14. But First: Cultural Norms Articulates what is normal Seen in artifacts Media Products Advertisements Street culture Trends and fads Normal isn’t “right or wrong” – it’s the set of background rules that define much of what people choose or ignore

15. What is Normal?

18. Ethnography and Technology Reveal Norms People assert their own normalcy by verbally distancing themselves from the end-points of the normal curve We hear these stories over and over New technologies (especially those that enable new, visible behaviors) are often met with distrust Society “sanctions” people who violate these norms Thinking someone is weird or a jerk is a manifestation of the norms of one’s society. What is weird in one age may eventually become normal over time. People who are too… People who are too… Me

19. Regional Cultures

20. Justin Guariglia on Planet Shanghai

26. Politicalmaps.org

27. User/Customer Cultures Flickr: anikarenina

28. User/Customer Cultures

29. User/Customer Cultures

30. Company Cultures Belkin, 1982 Belkin, 1983 Belkin, 2010

31. Company Cultures Communication tools Communication preferences “ Speed” Decision-making styles Hierarchical/flat Shared beliefs Natural language Internally/externally oriented Uncover ’ em. Work with ’ em. Work around ’ em. Change ’ em. You can’t ignore ’em, though! Company culture on display in an employee’s cubicle

32. Profession Cultures

33. Profession Cultures

34. Profession Cultures

35. Profession Cultures

36. Profession Cultures

37. Profession Cultures

38. Profession Cultures

39. Profession Cultures

40. Profession Cultures

41. Not Yet Time to Eat

42. Using Culture for Design User research goes beyond What features do people want? What do they like or dislike about our current service or prototype? Where is the ideal button placement? Which version reduces error rates? What are the three personas to share with our marketing team? …to collect cultural data What do they care about? Where are people trying to accomplish? What do people have in common? How are people making sense of their world? Design doesn’t just fix known problems, it addresses cultural insights Answers to “How can we help people to…?” This is a way to innovate

43. Practice Observing Culture With these examples, think about your own experiences with culture Is this outside your norm? Is this something you have an analog for in your own culture? Is it your own culture? Have you observed this? Or something similar?

69. The Native Effect

70. Collect Your Own Stories

71. Collect Your Own Stories

72. Collect Your Own Stories

73. Collect Your Own Stories

74. Collect Your Own Stories

75. Bringing More Culture into the Organization

76. Company Culture Meets Customer Culture Executives at Harley-Davidson are also Harley riders, and spend time with their consumers. There is no distinction between executives, dealers, and consumers. They are all part of the same group of authentic enthusiasts. Clif Bar founders are passionate about outdoor activities and environmentalism. They are actively involved and encourage their customers to join them in their efforts, enabling people to be more active and reach their aspirations.

77. What About Changing Culture? From A Good Way to Change a Corporate Culture , Peter Bregman, HBR blog To start a culture change we need to do two simple things: 1. Do dramatic story-worthy things that represent the culture we want to create. Then let other people tell stories about it. 2. Find other people who do story-worthy things that represent the culture we want to create. Then tell stories about them. We can change our stories and be changed by them.

78. What About Changing Culture? Flickr user dougbelshaw

79. Inauthenticity Dooms Culture Change Projects

80. I AM CANADIAN

81. One new thing I learned today is… I’ve got an example I’d like to share! Yeah, I’ve got a question for ya…

82. @steveportigal [email_address] +1-415-894-2001 Portigal Consulting www.portigal.com Thank You!