This document discusses using ethnographic techniques to understand user needs and behaviors in libraries, archives, and museums. It outlines 7 key ethnographic techniques including observation, interviews, cognitive mapping, and cultural probes. The goal is to gather insights that can be used to design small changes that improve the user experience. Examples are given of changes institutions have made based on ethnographic research, such as adjusting opening hours, adding signage and charging stations. The document encourages organizations to try these methods by starting with a specific space or user group and making changes quickly based on findings.

1. @ned_potter
ETHNOGRAPHY + POSSIBILITIES
FOR LIBRARIES, ARCHIVES AND MUSEUMS
UX
University of York

2. TERMINOLOGY

3. Ethnographic Museum
Ethnographic Archive
Ethnographic Library
TERMINOLOGY

4. Ethnographic Museum
Ethnographic Archive
Ethnographic Library
This is about using ethnography to observe
users of libraries, archives and museums…
TERMINOLOGY

5. INTRODUCTION: A UX PRIMER

6. UX has
become an
IP
UMBRELLA
term to
cover a
suite of
techniques
that can be
divided
roughly into
two parts:
ethnography
and design

7. SIMPLY PUT
Ethnographic techniques and observation lead to a
deeper and more complex understanding of user
needs and behaviour than traditional data gather
methods normally allow. (Examples follow)

8. Simply put,
HUMAN CENTRED
D
E
S
I
G
N
prioritises the end user, their
needs, and their behaviour, at
every stage of the design
process, with an aim to making
several small changes to
improve the user experience…

9. In recent years the User
Experience in Libraries
movement (UX) has
spread from the US
and Scandinavia
to the UK

10. UX
is
not

12. Libraries are
using UX to
make an
IMPACT on
their users’ day
to day lives

13. What does all of
this have to do
with…

14. What does all of
this have to do
with…

18. PART ONE: ETHNOGRAPHY

20. 7 KEY ETHNOGRAPHIC TECHNIQUES
Observation / Behavioural Mapping
Unstructured and Semi-Structured
Interviews
Cognitive Mapping
Touchstone Tours
Love Letters / Breakup Letters
Cultural Probes
Graffiti Walls

21. 1. Observation / Behavioural Mapping
Note your users as
they move through and
interact with the space.

22. 1. Observation / Behavioural Mapping
Note your users as
they move through and
interact with the space.
What are
their paths?
What do they
see? What
do they use?
What do they
ignore?

23. 1. Observation / Behavioural Mapping

24. 2. Unstructured / Semi-Structured Interviews
Interview your subject about
their working / scholarly /
cultural LIFE, not just the
institution. Ask open
questions, based on what
they’re saying rather than
based on a pre-prepared list.

25. 2. Unstructured / Semi-Structured Interviews
For example ask not
‘what e-resources do
you use?’ but ‘what’s
your process when
you’re set an
assignment / job-
hunting?’

26. 2. Unstructured / Semi-Structured Interviews
For example ask not
‘what is your favourite
part of the museum?’
but ‘how do museum
visits fit in with your
other cultural
activities?’

27. 3. Cognitive Maps
A brilliant jumping off point for the
interview is the Cognitive Map. Ask
your subject to draw a map from
memory.

28. 3. Cognitive Maps
The Cognitive Map can be of a
building or space – but it can also
be of a process, like researching
their family tree, or completing a
college assignment.
They have 6 minutes to do this,
changing colour of pen every
2 minutes.

29. 3. Cognitive Maps
Note what they put down first,
what’s a last minute addition, what
they leave out entirely. You can
code this later.
Then to introduce the unstructured
or semi-structured interview, ask
them to talk you through their
map. Use what they tell you
to inform your questions.

30. 3. Cognitive Maps

31. 3. Cognitive Maps

32. 3. Cognitive Maps

33. 4. Touchstone Tours
Rather than showing your users around, let them
take YOU on a tour of the building (and record
what they say). Does their understanding of
processes, systems and the space match your
expectations?

34. 5. Love Letters / Break-up Letters
Ask
your users
to write a letter
to a collection or
service (NOT a member
of staff!) – either professing
their love for, or breaking up
with, that service. This seems
very gimmicky and won’t work with
everyone, but when it does work it
really allows you to understand the
emotion engendered by the
user experiences

35. 5. Love Letters / Break-up Letters

36. 5. Love Letters / Break-up Letters

37. 5. Love Letters / Break-up Letters

38. 5. Love Letters / Break-up Letters

39. 6. Cultural Probes
Give your users the
tools they need to take
ethnography home with
them – diary studies, a
voice recorder, the chance
to take pictures…
Encourage them to record
feelings, events and
interactions.

40. 7. Graffiti Walls
Give your users a
feedback mechanism
which is quick, easy
and interactive

41. 7. Graffiti Walls

42. 7. Graffiti Walls

43. These methods for
feedback gathering
tend to reveal very in-
depth and varied
views, feelings and
experiences

44. The key is not to get stuck on
the ethnography phase – the next step
is to design changes to your service
based on what you’ve learned.

45. PART TWO: DESIGN

46. The aim is to tweak the
service to make the user
experience better. This
may mean a small number
of large changes – you
never know what the data
will tell you – but most
often this will mean a large
number of small changes
that positively influence the
user day to day

47. The Design Thinking process first defines the
problem and then implements the solutions,
always with the needs of the user demographic at
the core of concept development. This process
focuses on needfinding, understanding, creating,
thinking, and doing. At the core of this process is
a bias towards action and creation: by creating
and testing something, you can continue to learn
and improve upon your initial ideas.
“
Stanford Design School

48. (In other words: it’s iterative.
Rather than saving up your
design tweaks for one huge
change, go for a rapid-
prototyping model…)

49. Make changes
early and often,
monitor your users’
responses, and
don’t be afraid
to fail.
Just make sure
you record and
learn from
failure

50. Perhaps it’s better to make something self-
righting than to aim for perfection. Can your
users find their own way out of difficulties?

51. Use design techniques to help structure your thinking
Examples courtesy of
Modern Human

52. PART THREE: UX-LED CHANGES

53. Here are some examples of changes: tweaks to our
services at the University of York, informed or
supported by our three major UX projects since 2015.

54. We installed hot-drinking-water taps,
for those who prefer to drink hot
water during the winter months

55. We changed the opening hours of
one of our sites to 24hrs, because
students told us they were reluctant
to use it if it meant setting up all
their stuff and then having to move
at 10pm when it previously closed

56. We added white-boards to the Postgrad areas to
try and help foster a sense of community. PGs
don’t always want to collaborate, but sometimes
they just want to BE, together in a shared space.

57. We bought blankets for all our sites.
It may not seem like much, but…

58. We bought blankets for all our sites.
It may not seem like much, but…

63. We changed the way our Flexible Loans system
works for the academic community, and data from
ethnographic fieldwork also fed into changes to the
catalogue front-end, and our reading list system

64. We changed the way we
communicate with our users

65. Examples of changes at other institutions include changing the
location of digital screens, to areas where they’ll be actually
engaged with by a larger number of people…

66. … so this screenshot from Andy Priestner shows several behavioural
maps combined by Georgina Cronin to show the ‘desire line’ people
often use – digital screens and signage can then be repositioned
where they will be most seen and easiest to read

67. Ethnographic fieldwork can identify why supposedly quiet areas
were still thought of as noisy by users – solutions at other
institutions included oiling loud hinges on office doors, and turning
the volume down on self-issue machines…

68. Another HEI put in more printers, more signage (both
physical and digital) and a phone charging station. Again,
none of these changes are huge on their own, but…

69. THIS THIS THIS
THIS

70. = a better user experience,
happier users

71. Often UX fieldwork can be
the evidence and trigger
required to make the
changes you’ve known you
want to do for a while…

72. FINALLY: NEXT STEPS

73. If you’d like to try this at your library, museum or archive
(or any other organisation) here’s a potential path forward:

74. 1. Choose either a space or a demographic

75. 1. Choose either a space or a demographic
2. Choose some ethnographic fieldwork to try
out. Behavioural Mapping is a good way to
start for space. Cognitive Mapping and
Interviews are good to do with a
demographic.
3. Practice on colleagues first!

76. 1. Choose either a space or a demographic
2. Choose some ethnographic fieldwork to try
out. Behavioural Mapping is a good way to
start for space. Cognitive Mapping and
Interviews are good to do with a
demographic.
3. Practice on colleagues first!
4. Try to avoid going in trying to solve a
specific problem. Be led by the data.

77. 1. Choose either a space or a demographic
2. Choose some ethnographic fieldwork to try
out. Behavioural Mapping is a good way to
start for space. Cognitive Mapping and
Interviews are good to do with a
demographic.
3. Practice on colleagues first!
4. Try to avoid going in trying to solve a
specific problem. Be led by the data.
5. As soon as you find something you can
change, design and implement the change
right away.

78. 1. Choose either a space or a demographic
2. Choose some ethnographic fieldwork to try
out. Behavioural Mapping is a good way to
start for space. Cognitive Mapping and
Interviews are good to do with a
demographic.
3. Practice on colleagues first!
4. Try to avoid going in trying to solve a
specific problem. Be led by the data.
5. As soon as you find something you can
change, design and implement the change
right away.
6. Have fun!

79. SOME CREDITS
All photos are CC0 (sourced via
Pixabay & Pexels) except the
Touchstone Tour pic, courtesy of
Georgina Cronin and the Modern
Human design cards, taken by me.
Thanks to Andy Priestner, Jenny
Foster, Ingela Wahlgren and Carl
Barrow for their examples of UX-led
changes. Follow them on Twitter for
more good stuff!

80. Read more about UX at the
University of York Library
libinnovation.blogspot.co.uk
a structured introduction to UX:
ned-potter.com
talk to me on twitter: @ned_potter
THANKS FOR LISTENING!
Find out about the UXLibs Conference:
uxlib.org