A high-level summary of lean, ethnographic research techniques to help gain a better understanding of users and their digital ecosystems.

1. LEAN ETHNOGRAPHY:
GAIN INSIGHTS TO IMPROVE THE LIBRARY EXPERIENCE
Kate
Lawrence,
VP
User
Research
klawrence@ebsco.com
EBSCO
Information
Services
February
17,
2017
|
ALIA
Information
Online
@bykatelawrence

2. LEAN ETHNOGRAPHY
Agenda:
• Why
ethnography
• Determining
your
sample
• Planning
your
session
• Conducting
your
session
• Distillation
&
synthesis
of
findings
• Tying
it
all
together
• Let’s
stay
in
touch
Ground Rules:
• Ask any question!
• Be interactive
• Give examples from
your institution
• My support continues
when you get home
Agenda &
Ground
Rules

3. BUT FIRST: THE RESEARCH PLAN
Get
everyone on
the
same
page
From
“Write
a
Research
Plan
Stakeholders
Love”
by
Tomer Sharon
(Google):
• 1-­‐page
document
• Title
• Author,
Stakeholders
• Date
• Background
(“The
Why”)
• Goals
• Methodology
(highlight
areas
of
questioning/testing)
• Participants
• Schedule
• Script
placeholder
(tbd)
v Request
a
copy
of
a
research
plan
– email
klawrence@ebsco.com
Source: smashingux.com
Tomer Sharon
January
2012

4. WHY
ETHNOGRAPHY
Because
what
users
say
they
do
is
different
than
what
they
actually
do

5. WHY ETHNOGRAPHY
Studying people
in
their
environment means
studying
people
in
their
natural,
comfortable
state.
You
are
also
learning
about
the
setting
in
which
they
do
whatever
it
is
you
are
curious
about.
Why
ethnography
vs.
usability
testing
Ethnography
is
most
effective
for
a
specific
market
or
a
population:
“We
want
to
learn
more
about
how
[who]
approaches/thinks about
[what
big
thing].
“But
what
if
I
don’t
hear
about
[my
product/company/big
thing]?”
Tip Call
your
study
a
“Contextual
Inquiry”

7. DETERMINING
YOUR SAMPLE
“But
how
do
you
know
your
findings
are
applicable
or
extensible
based
on
your
sample?”
-­‐ Tom,
the
guy
who
asks
this
every
time
we
present
research

8. USABILITY: JAKOB SAYS 5. I SAY MORE.
Source:
nngroup.com
2014

9. STEVE SAYS 3. I SAY, BE CAREFUL!
Source: stevekrug.com
2014
“I
believed
that
with
a
little
bit
of
instruction
most
people
could
do
a
lot
of
what
I
do
themselves,
since
much
of
it
just
seems
like
common
sense
once
you
hear
it
explained.”
– Steve
Krug
>
Krug
video
clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QckIzHC99Xc

10. SAMPLE SIZE: CONTEXTUAL INQUIRY
What
the
User
Research
Group
at
EBSCO
does;
what
I
recommend
you
do
User Research @EBSCO:
Usability sample size:
7-10 participants
Ethnographic sample size:
Start with 12 (8+50%),
end at 20+.
Recruit by persona?
Yes
You:
Usability sample size:
5-7 participants
Ethnographic sample size:
8-10 participants
Recruit by persona?
No
Two
words
about
recruiting:
It’s
difficult Social
Media!

11. PLANNING
THE
SESSIONS

12. PLAN YOUR SESSIONS
• Plan
the
topics
to
be
discussed
with
each
participant
and
get
stakeholder
agreement
(don’t
be
concerned
about
adhering
to
a
script!).
Try:
“Talk
to
me
about
[x]”:
– How
research
is
assigned,
what
is
their
process
for
conducting
research,
last
topic
I
searched,
how
I
learned
– Library
&
librarian
interaction,
who
do
they
ask
for
help
– Mobile,
printing,
saving,
sharing
– What
are
their
challenges
in
the
research
process
– Social
media,
more
• Researchers
per
session
(2,
3
is
max)
• Schedule
sessions
for
1-­‐1.5
hours
each
• Participants
must
sign
release
forms!
• For
researchers
– recording
app
on
phone,
plan
for
parking,
food,
bio
breaks

13. CONDUCTING
YOUR
SESSIONS
Go to your users

14. IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU!
It
starts
with
a
simple
question.
And
remember,
the
user
is
driving
the
session.
Start
with
When
was
the
last
time
you
searched
in
support
of
your
studies?
Next:
Can
you
please
show
me
how
you
did
that?

15. You’re
there
to
learn
about
“Jane”,
to
explore
her
world.
Not
to
validate
stakeholder
assumptions.
You’re
waiting
for
the
moment
when
Question-­‐
Answer
into
Question-­‐
Story
(be
patient!).
YOUR JOB AS RESEARCHER
Focus
on
‘connectors’
– threads
that
will
help
you
weave
the
story
together
later.
Example
of
connector:
John
Green
book/Vlog
Brothers/YouTube.
-­‐ Source:
Steve
Portigal, Interviewing
Users

16. Four
phases:
IN THE SESSION
• Background
(tell
me
about
you)
• The
Main
Body
(the
question
+
subjects)
• The
Projection/Dream
Question
(magic
wand)
• Wrap-­‐Up
(it
sounds
like
you….)
-­‐ Source:
Steve
Portigal, Interviewing
Users

17. Use
other
methods
as
needed:
IN THE SESSION
-­‐ Source:
Steve
Portigal, Interviewing
Users
Method Sample
Question
Tasks Can
you
draw a
map
of
the
library?
Participation Can
you
show
me
how
to
download
an
eBook?
Demonstration Show
us
how
you
search
for
a
vlog on
YouTube.
Role-­‐Playing I’ll
be the
student
and
you
be
the
librarian
and
I’ll
ask
for
help
in
narrowing
my
topic.
Observations Look
around
apartment,
office,
coffee
shop
etc

18. DISTILLATION
&SYNTHESIS

19. QUICK & DIRTY METHOD
• Each
researcher
brings
their
notes
to
a
synthesis
session
• Write
post-­‐its
from
notes
– focus
on
user
actions.
One
per
note.
• Map
notes
into
themed
hierarchies
that
align
with
your
subject
categories
(large
groupings,
such
as
“Search”,
“The
Library”
etc).
Search

20. MORE COMPLEX: AFFINITY MAPPING
• Distill
down
findings
with
team
after
each
session
• Create
first-­‐person
notes
from
findings:
– Good
note:
He
googles his
institution’s
library
+
a
specific
database
as
a
first
step
in
his
research
process.
– Poor
note:
He
uses
Google.
– 30-­‐60
notes
per
session,
print
notes,
pin
them
into
hierarchies.

21. TYING IT
ALL
TOGETHER

22. STAKEHOLDER REVIEW
• Invite
stakeholders
(and
others!)
in
to
“walk
the
walls”.
• Provide
post-­‐it
notes
and
sharpie
markers,
let
people
write
notes/comments
about
product
ideas,
features,
services.
• Document hierarchies
and
ideas!

23. Personalize and
visualize your
findings
for
stakeholders.
• Use
participant
quotes
to
illustrate
pain
points.
• Use
screenshots
to
illustrate
and
reenact
experiences.
• Use
topic
headings
from
research
to
guide
categorization
of
findings.
• What
we
thought/what
we
learned
format
works
well
(Kate
to
show
samples).
PROCESS: WRITING A REPORT

24. QUESTIONS?
THANK YOU
@bykatelawrence
klawrence@ebsco.com