Slides from Simon Johnson's presentation at the UKUPA Ethnography event in March 2012

1. Ethnography 101
Everything your granny didn’t tell you
So what type of ethnography am I hear to talk about and is it ‘proper’ ethnography?

2. Does corporate
ethnography suck?
Sam Ladner - Ethnography Matter blog....
The real essence of ethnography is the study of culture. Therefore, much of private-sector
ethnography is as banal. In its bland quest to “understand the consumer,” it reduces culture
to mere consumerism.
>> ADVANCE
I would argue that practices have always been evolving to meet the needs of a changing
world. If we go back to Bronislaw Malinowski, a Polish-born- British-naturalized
anthropologist we can see that he challenged how ethnography was practiced in 1914.
http://ethnographymatters.net/2012/01/13/does-corporate-ethnography-suck-a-cultural-analysis-of-
academic-critiques-of-private-sector-ethnography-part-1-of-2/

3. Does corporate
ethnography suck?
The answer is Yes
Sam Ladner - Ethnography Matter blog....
The real essence of ethnography is the study of culture. Therefore, much of private-sector
ethnography is as banal. In its bland quest to “understand the consumer,” it reduces culture
to mere consumerism.
>> ADVANCE
I would argue that practices have always been evolving to meet the needs of a changing
world. If we go back to Bronislaw Malinowski, a Polish-born- British-naturalized
anthropologist we can see that he challenged how ethnography was practiced in 1914.
http://ethnographymatters.net/2012/01/13/does-corporate-ethnography-suck-a-cultural-analysis-of-
academic-critiques-of-private-sector-ethnography-part-1-of-2/

4. Sam Ladner - Ethnography Matter blog....
The real essence of ethnography is the study of culture. Therefore, much of private-sector
ethnography is as banal. In its bland quest to “understand the consumer,” it reduces culture
to mere consumerism.
>> ADVANCE
I would argue that practices have always been evolving to meet the needs of a changing
world. If we go back to Bronislaw Malinowski, a Polish-born- British-naturalized
anthropologist we can see that he challenged how ethnography was practiced in 1914.
http://ethnographymatters.net/2012/01/13/does-corporate-ethnography-suck-a-cultural-analysis-of-
academic-critiques-of-private-sector-ethnography-part-1-of-2/

5. Who’s your
Daddy?
Video replaced
Video mentions how revolutionary
it was for anthropologists to visit
the cultures they were studying.
They would stay at home and
study other peoples’ facts. Now
they would observe first hand.
They were moving from the
armchair to the veranda.
Bronislaw Malinowski
He worked in the Trobriand Islands, in Melanesia where he stayed for several years, studying
the indigenous culture.
He is often referred to as the first researcher to bring anthropology "off the verandah", that
is, experiencing the everyday life of his subjects along with them.
Even in those days looking at the present wasn’t seen as the remit of ‘serious’
anthropologists.
# Video 1 - Revolution
Video mentions how revolutionary it was for anthropologists to visit the cultures they were
studying. They would stay at home and study other peoples’ facts. Now they would observe
first hand. They were moving from the armchair to the veranda.
Father if the 'real' deal. http://www.therai.org.uk/fs/film-sales/off-the-verandah-bronislaw-
malinowski-1884-1942/

6. Video replaced
Video mentions how revolutionary
it was for anthropologists to visit
the cultures they were studying.
They would stay at home and
study other peoples’ facts. Now
they would observe first hand.
They were moving from the
armchair to the veranda.
Bronislaw Malinowski
He worked in the Trobriand Islands, in Melanesia where he stayed for several years, studying
the indigenous culture.
He is often referred to as the first researcher to bring anthropology "off the verandah", that
is, experiencing the everyday life of his subjects along with them.
Even in those days looking at the present wasn’t seen as the remit of ‘serious’
anthropologists.
# Video 1 - Revolution
Video mentions how revolutionary it was for anthropologists to visit the cultures they were
studying. They would stay at home and study other peoples’ facts. Now they would observe
first hand. They were moving from the armchair to the veranda.
Father if the 'real' deal. http://www.therai.org.uk/fs/film-sales/off-the-verandah-bronislaw-
malinowski-1884-1942/

7. Corporate ethnography
is present-oriented
Video replaced
Malinowski wasn’t so
interested in studying how
things had evolved like his
predecessors. What’s
important is how things
actually worked at the time it
was being observed.
The rapid pace of contemporary corporate life clearly and reasonably demands shorter time
horizons for any research project.
Academia is a past-oriented society, with its obsession with paying homage to past greats of
the literature and constant “reviews” of what others have previously found.
# Video 2 Present oriented
Malinowski wasn’t so interested in studying how things had evolved like his predecessors.
What’s important is how things actually worked at the time it was being observed.
A culture can be present oriented, by focusing on what is immediately present.
At a click of a button you can access a huge amount of data about your potential customers.
Why on earth would you delay your project with this additional research?

8. Video replaced
Malinowski wasn’t so
interested in studying how
things had evolved like his
predecessors. What’s
important is how things
actually worked at the time it
was being observed.
The rapid pace of contemporary corporate life clearly and reasonably demands shorter time
horizons for any research project.
Academia is a past-oriented society, with its obsession with paying homage to past greats of
the literature and constant “reviews” of what others have previously found.
# Video 2 Present oriented
Malinowski wasn’t so interested in studying how things had evolved like his predecessors.
What’s important is how things actually worked at the time it was being observed.
A culture can be present oriented, by focusing on what is immediately present.
At a click of a button you can access a huge amount of data about your potential customers.
Why on earth would you delay your project with this additional research?

9. Ethnography is
a waste of time
Five case studies
Product manager in a company I recently worked for said “why ask people, what do they
know. I’m the expert, not them!”
However the next example shows the dangers of only relying on what we think we know.

10. Stinky cat people
“Engineers and MBAs are fantastic at solving problems, but they aren't any good at making
sure it is the right problem." ~ Don Norman
Procter & Gamble, used habit insights to turn a failing product into one of its biggest sellers.
In the mid-1990s, P.& G.’s began a secret project to create a new product that could
eradicate bad smells. P.& G. spent millions developing a colorless, cheap-to-manufacture
liquid.
ad featured a woman worrying about her dog, Sophie, who always sits on the couch. “Sophie
will always smell like Sophie,” she says, but with Febreze, “now my furniture doesn’t have to.”
Fabreeze was a dud.
The team conducted in-depth interviews to figure out what was going wrong, Stimson
recalled. Their first inkling came when they visited a woman’s home outside Phoenix. The
house was clean and organized. She was something of a neat freak, the woman explained.
But when P.& G.’s scientists walked into her living room, where her nine cats spent most of
their time, the scent was so overpowering that one of them gagged.
According to Stimson, who led the Febreze team, a researcher asked the woman
“What do you do about the cat smell?”
“No,” she said. “Isn’t it wonderful? They hardly smell at all!”
Even the strongest odors fade with constant exposure. That’s why Febreze was a failure. The
product’s cue — the bad smells that were supposed to trigger daily use — was hidden from
the people who needed it the most.
Breakthrough

11. Stinky cat people
“Engineers and MBAs are fantastic at solving problems, but they aren't any good at making
sure it is the right problem." ~ Don Norman
Procter & Gamble, used habit insights to turn a failing product into one of its biggest sellers.
In the mid-1990s, P.& G.’s began a secret project to create a new product that could
eradicate bad smells. P.& G. spent millions developing a colorless, cheap-to-manufacture
liquid.
ad featured a woman worrying about her dog, Sophie, who always sits on the couch. “Sophie
will always smell like Sophie,” she says, but with Febreze, “now my furniture doesn’t have to.”
Fabreeze was a dud.
The team conducted in-depth interviews to figure out what was going wrong, Stimson
recalled. Their first inkling came when they visited a woman’s home outside Phoenix. The
house was clean and organized. She was something of a neat freak, the woman explained.
But when P.& G.’s scientists walked into her living room, where her nine cats spent most of
their time, the scent was so overpowering that one of them gagged.
According to Stimson, who led the Febreze team, a researcher asked the woman
“What do you do about the cat smell?”
“No,” she said. “Isn’t it wonderful? They hardly smell at all!”
Even the strongest odors fade with constant exposure. That’s why Febreze was a failure. The
product’s cue — the bad smells that were supposed to trigger daily use — was hidden from
the people who needed it the most.
Breakthrough

12. Stinky cat people
“Engineers and MBAs are fantastic at solving problems, but they aren't any good at making
sure it is the right problem." ~ Don Norman
Procter & Gamble, used habit insights to turn a failing product into one of its biggest sellers.
In the mid-1990s, P.& G.’s began a secret project to create a new product that could
eradicate bad smells. P.& G. spent millions developing a colorless, cheap-to-manufacture
liquid.
ad featured a woman worrying about her dog, Sophie, who always sits on the couch. “Sophie
will always smell like Sophie,” she says, but with Febreze, “now my furniture doesn’t have to.”
Fabreeze was a dud.
The team conducted in-depth interviews to figure out what was going wrong, Stimson
recalled. Their first inkling came when they visited a woman’s home outside Phoenix. The
house was clean and organized. She was something of a neat freak, the woman explained.
But when P.& G.’s scientists walked into her living room, where her nine cats spent most of
their time, the scent was so overpowering that one of them gagged.
According to Stimson, who led the Febreze team, a researcher asked the woman
“What do you do about the cat smell?”
“No,” she said. “Isn’t it wonderful? They hardly smell at all!”
Even the strongest odors fade with constant exposure. That’s why Febreze was a failure. The
product’s cue — the bad smells that were supposed to trigger daily use — was hidden from
the people who needed it the most.
Breakthrough

13. Stinky cat people
“Engineers and MBAs are fantastic at solving problems, but they aren't any good at making
sure it is the right problem." ~ Don Norman
Procter & Gamble, used habit insights to turn a failing product into one of its biggest sellers.
In the mid-1990s, P.& G.’s began a secret project to create a new product that could
eradicate bad smells. P.& G. spent millions developing a colorless, cheap-to-manufacture
liquid.
ad featured a woman worrying about her dog, Sophie, who always sits on the couch. “Sophie
will always smell like Sophie,” she says, but with Febreze, “now my furniture doesn’t have to.”
Fabreeze was a dud.
The team conducted in-depth interviews to figure out what was going wrong, Stimson
recalled. Their first inkling came when they visited a woman’s home outside Phoenix. The
house was clean and organized. She was something of a neat freak, the woman explained.
But when P.& G.’s scientists walked into her living room, where her nine cats spent most of
their time, the scent was so overpowering that one of them gagged.
According to Stimson, who led the Febreze team, a researcher asked the woman
“What do you do about the cat smell?”
“No,” she said. “Isn’t it wonderful? They hardly smell at all!”
Even the strongest odors fade with constant exposure. That’s why Febreze was a failure. The
product’s cue — the bad smells that were supposed to trigger daily use — was hidden from
the people who needed it the most.
Breakthrough

14. Stinky cat people
“Engineers and MBAs are fantastic at solving problems, but they aren't any good at making
sure it is the right problem." ~ Don Norman
Procter & Gamble, used habit insights to turn a failing product into one of its biggest sellers.
In the mid-1990s, P.& G.’s began a secret project to create a new product that could
eradicate bad smells. P.& G. spent millions developing a colorless, cheap-to-manufacture
liquid.
ad featured a woman worrying about her dog, Sophie, who always sits on the couch. “Sophie
will always smell like Sophie,” she says, but with Febreze, “now my furniture doesn’t have to.”
Fabreeze was a dud.
The team conducted in-depth interviews to figure out what was going wrong, Stimson
recalled. Their first inkling came when they visited a woman’s home outside Phoenix. The
house was clean and organized. She was something of a neat freak, the woman explained.
But when P.& G.’s scientists walked into her living room, where her nine cats spent most of
their time, the scent was so overpowering that one of them gagged.
According to Stimson, who led the Febreze team, a researcher asked the woman
“What do you do about the cat smell?”
“No,” she said. “Isn’t it wonderful? They hardly smell at all!”
Even the strongest odors fade with constant exposure. That’s why Febreze was a failure. The
product’s cue — the bad smells that were supposed to trigger daily use — was hidden from
the people who needed it the most.
Breakthrough

15. So what was going on?

16. So what was going on?

17. So what was going on?

18. Analysis
P.& G. had been trying to create a whole new habit with Febreze, but what they really needed
to do was piggyback on habit loops that were already in place. The marketers needed to
position Febreze as something that came at the end of the cleaning ritual, the reward, rather
than as a whole new cleaning routine.
Outcome
And so Febreze, a product originally conceived as a revolutionary way to destroy odors,
became an air freshener used once things are already clean.
A year later, the product brought in $230 million
Lesson: Ethnography ensures your product works in the real world

19. Analysis
When they got back to P.& G.’s headquarters, the researchers watched their videotapes again.
Now they knew what to look for and saw their mistake in scene after scene.
P.& G. had been trying to create a whole new habit with Febreze, but what they really needed
to do was piggyback on habit loops that were already in place. The marketers needed to
position Febreze as something that came at the end of the cleaning ritual, the reward, rather
than as a whole new cleaning routine.
Outcome
A year later, the product brought in $230 million
# Ethnography ensures your product works in the real world
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/magazine/shopping-habits.html?_r=1

20. Analysis
When they got back to P.& G.’s headquarters, the researchers watched their videotapes again.
Now they knew what to look for and saw their mistake in scene after scene.
P.& G. had been trying to create a whole new habit with Febreze, but what they really needed
to do was piggyback on habit loops that were already in place. The marketers needed to
position Febreze as something that came at the end of the cleaning ritual, the reward, rather
than as a whole new cleaning routine.
Outcome
A year later, the product brought in $230 million
# Ethnography ensures your product works in the real world
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/magazine/shopping-habits.html?_r=1

21. Analysis
When they got back to P.& G.’s headquarters, the researchers watched their videotapes again.
Now they knew what to look for and saw their mistake in scene after scene.
P.& G. had been trying to create a whole new habit with Febreze, but what they really needed
to do was piggyback on habit loops that were already in place. The marketers needed to
position Febreze as something that came at the end of the cleaning ritual, the reward, rather
than as a whole new cleaning routine.
Outcome
A year later, the product brought in $230 million
# Ethnography ensures your product works in the real world
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/magazine/shopping-habits.html?_r=1

22. Analysis
When they got back to P.& G.’s headquarters, the researchers watched their videotapes again.
Now they knew what to look for and saw their mistake in scene after scene.
P.& G. had been trying to create a whole new habit with Febreze, but what they really needed
to do was piggyback on habit loops that were already in place. The marketers needed to
position Febreze as something that came at the end of the cleaning ritual, the reward, rather
than as a whole new cleaning routine.
Outcome
A year later, the product brought in $230 million
# Ethnography ensures your product works in the real world
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/magazine/shopping-habits.html?_r=1

23. When the Thomson Directory went into battle with the ubiquitous Yellow Pages in the UK they
wanted a point of difference – and to become the ‘most reached for’ directory over their
competitor…
By visiting people’s homes they saw only the Yellow Pages next to the phone, but in drawers,
under stairs, propping up computer monitors etc. They noticed people stacked smaller books
on top of larger books.
Thomson used this insight to their advantage, producing a smaller book so it would be on
top, and the first directory people grabbed.
- thanks to Nick Bowmast
# Ethnography generates opportunities

24. Less or more
When the Thomson Directory went into battle with the ubiquitous Yellow Pages in the UK they
wanted a point of difference – and to become the ‘most reached for’ directory over their
competitor…
By visiting people’s homes they saw only the Yellow Pages next to the phone, but in drawers,
under stairs, propping up computer monitors etc. They noticed people stacked smaller books
on top of larger books.
Thomson used this insight to their advantage, producing a smaller book so it would be on
top, and the first directory people grabbed.
- thanks to Nick Bowmast
# Ethnography generates opportunities

25. Shabby chic
In 2000, the United States forged its current economic relationship with China by
permanently granting it most-favored-nation trade status and, eventually, helping the
country enter the World Trade Organization.
There is a long list of missteps, Home Depot, for example, overestimated the desire for D.I.Y.
home projects and high-end materials in a country with an unbelievably cheap labor force
and a thriving black market. Kodak learned it couldn’t forever dump its unsold film on a
consumer base looking to make their first cameras digital ones. The Gap had to learn that a
thriving middle class does not want to dress shabby-chic.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/29/magazine/come-on-china-buy-our-stuff.html?_r=3

26. Sky Broadband
Broadband anecdote.
Engineers said people would systematically unpack 1-2-3

27. People’ don’t do things sequentially
There are 2 tasks - 1 wired installation- 2 - Account activation
Microfilters and phone splitters mixed up
Mental models - What is a Sky box, and a Sky broadband box?
Delivery assumes activation
90 metres of paper filled with findings!

28. People’ don’t do things sequentially
There are 2 tasks - 1 wired installation- 2 - Account activation
Microfilters and phone splitters mixed up
Mental models - What is a Sky box, and a Sky broadband box?
Delivery assumes activation
90 metres of paper filled with findings!

29. People’ don’t do things sequentially
There are 2 tasks - 1 wired installation- 2 - Account activation
Microfilters and phone splitters mixed up
Mental models - What is a Sky box, and a Sky broadband box?
Delivery assumes activation
90 metres of paper filled with findings!

30. People’ don’t do things sequentially
There are 2 tasks - 1 wired installation- 2 - Account activation
Microfilters and phone splitters mixed up
Mental models - What is a Sky box, and a Sky broadband box?
Delivery assumes activation
90 metres of paper filled with findings!

31. People’ don’t do things sequentially
There are 2 tasks - 1 wired installation- 2 - Account activation
Microfilters and phone splitters mixed up
Mental models - What is a Sky box, and a Sky broadband box?
Delivery assumes activation
90 metres of paper filled with findings!

32. People’ don’t do things sequentially
There are 2 tasks - 1 wired installation- 2 - Account activation
Microfilters and phone splitters mixed up
Mental models - What is a Sky box, and a Sky broadband box?
Delivery assumes activation
90 metres of paper filled with findings!

33. People’ don’t do things sequentially
There are 2 tasks - 1 wired installation- 2 - Account activation
Microfilters and phone splitters mixed up
Mental models - What is a Sky box, and a Sky broadband box?
Delivery assumes activation
90 metres of paper filled with findings!

34. People’ don’t do things sequentially
There are 2 tasks - 1 wired installation- 2 - Account activation
Microfilters and phone splitters mixed up
Mental models - What is a Sky box, and a Sky broadband box?
Delivery assumes activation
90 metres of paper filled with findings!

35. People’ don’t do things sequentially
There are 2 tasks - 1 wired installation- 2 - Account activation
Microfilters and phone splitters mixed up
Mental models - What is a Sky box, and a Sky broadband box?
Delivery assumes activation
90 metres of paper filled with findings!

36. People’ don’t do things sequentially
There are 2 tasks - 1 wired installation- 2 - Account activation
Microfilters and phone splitters mixed up
Mental models - What is a Sky box, and a Sky broadband box?
Delivery assumes activation
90 metres of paper filled with findings!

37. People’ don’t do things sequentially
There are 2 tasks - 1 wired installation- 2 - Account activation
Microfilters and phone splitters mixed up
Mental models - What is a Sky box, and a Sky broadband box?
Delivery assumes activation
90 metres of paper filled with findings!

38. 1,088,308 fewer inbound calls a year.
#((')&,/&.-$#*(<&&=;&1(3($%"#*&-/8&>?;@)&=1/$'0$#'&)/%52/#&")&5)('4&"#.%5'"#*&,-(&"67/1,$#,4&5#(:7(.,('&
"#,(#,&6/'(%)&.5),/6(1)&'(3(%/7&8-(#&5)"#*&$&)/%52/#4&8(&'(3(%/7('&$&#(8&'()"*#&,-$,&A/.5)()&05)"#())& If average cost per call is £5 this is an annual saving of
"#3(),6(#,& /#& #(8& A($,51()& ,-$,& *5"'(& 5#6(,& "#,(#,& 6/'(%)& $#'& /#& 1(B'()"*#"#*& (:")2#*& A($,51()& ,-$,& £5,441,540
$67%"A;&.5),/6(1&3$%5(<&
F G
G IM
CF >
>E
G CH
>D DF
H()($1.- =(-$3"/51&7$N(1#) O'($)&P&Q/$%)
Sky's broadband proposition led to frustrations and The investigation modeled how people intended to Stakeholders review intent models to see how the
missed opportunities, eroded brand equity and created meet their expectations of a broadband installation with current design solution fits the customers' experience.
overheads in higher marketing and customer services Sky's solution, common pain points and positive This inspires fresh thinking in how to adapt the current
costs to sustain the experience. moments reveal themselves quickly. solution and provides ideas to invent something new.
C C
H KL
HID >J
FD
H/$'6$7 C:7(1"6(#, !"#$%&'()"*#
Executing a solution isn't only what's "do-able" By iterating new concepts we gradually validated what The new solution specifically caters for the behaviours
technically or through engineering, a new solution will worked and what failed. Co-creation develops buy-in of customers knowing where they run into difficulty
impact human resources and the business model as we built higher quality prototypes scaling up to alpha whilst augmenting things our research found they liked
supporting it may need to evolve. and beta tests with 200 and then 50,000 customers. (a more personal, informal experience):
The foundation of all our design work was our insights from the ethnography. It was easy to
make decisions, think of new ideas and substantiate our approach to others at Sky.

39. After launch...
1,088,308 fewer
inbound calls a year.
Estimated annual saving
of £5.44 million
1,088,308 fewer inbound calls a year.
If average cost per call is £5 this is an annual saving of £5,441,540
Benefits recap
# Reveals opportunities
# Ensures your product is routed in the context of the real world
# Saves you money

40. Simon’s rules for
ethnographers*

41. Simon’s rules for
ethnographers*
*Warning - may contain nuts

42. #1 Get yourself a
hypotheses
Research without theory is not research at all, but merely “asking people things” or “noticing
things.” We must situate your questions within established theories in order to cohere our
results.
Two forms of enquiry; open (grounded theory) and hypothesis-based enquiry.

43. #2 Be open to
everything
Video replaced
So much of what you can
observe of native life is boring
and dull, just because you
initially don’t know what is
going on. To begin with
Malinowski was in the same
position.
Einstein: “If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn’t be research.”
# Video 3 Be open
So much of what you can observe of native life is boring and dull, just because you initially
don’t know what is going on. To begin with Malinowski was in the same position.
Research without theory is not research at all, but merely “asking people things” or “noticing
things.” We must situate your questions within established theories in order to cohere our
results.
Two forms of enquiry; open (grounded theory) and hypothesis-based enquiry.

44. Video replaced
So much of what you can
observe of native life is boring
and dull, just because you
initially don’t know what is
going on. To begin with
Malinowski was in the same
position.
Einstein: “If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn’t be research.”
# Video 3 Be open
So much of what you can observe of native life is boring and dull, just because you initially
don’t know what is going on. To begin with Malinowski was in the same position.
Research without theory is not research at all, but merely “asking people things” or “noticing
things.” We must situate your questions within established theories in order to cohere our
results.
Two forms of enquiry; open (grounded theory) and hypothesis-based enquiry.

45. #3 Get stuck in
He stated that the goal of the anthropologist, or ethnographer, is "to grasp the native's point
of view, his relation to life, to realize his vision of his world"
In it he coined the phrase ‘Participant observation’.
A key principle of the method is that one may not merely observe, but must find a role within
the group observed from which to participate in some manner.
# Video 4 - Participant observation
Malinowski soon realised that he wasn’t getting a ful picture of village life from his Veranda.
He wasn’t taking part in their daily lives. He realised to do this he needed to come down off
the veranda and actually go and live with the natives. This style of field work, speaking the
language fluently, living with the community, keeping detailed daily notes, came to be called
participant observation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronisław_Malinowski

46. He stated that the goal of the anthropologist, or ethnographer, is "to grasp the native's point
of view, his relation to life, to realize his vision of his world"
In it he coined the phrase ‘Participant observation’.
A key principle of the method is that one may not merely observe, but must find a role within
the group observed from which to participate in some manner.
# Video 4 - Participant observation
Malinowski soon realised that he wasn’t getting a ful picture of village life from his Veranda.
He wasn’t taking part in their daily lives. He realised to do this he needed to come down off
the veranda and actually go and live with the natives. This style of field work, speaking the
language fluently, living with the community, keeping detailed daily notes, came to be called
participant observation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronisław_Malinowski

47. Video replaced
Malinowski soon realised that he
wasn’t getting a ful picture of village
life from his Veranda. He wasn’t taking
part in their daily lives. He realised to
do this he needed to come down off
the veranda and actually go and live
with the natives. This style of field
work, speaking the language fluently,
living with the community, keeping
detailed daily notes, came to be called
participant observation.
He stated that the goal of the anthropologist, or ethnographer, is "to grasp the native's point
of view, his relation to life, to realize his vision of his world"
In it he coined the phrase ‘Participant observation’.
A key principle of the method is that one may not merely observe, but must find a role within
the group observed from which to participate in some manner.
# Video 4 - Participant observation
Malinowski soon realised that he wasn’t getting a ful picture of village life from his Veranda.
He wasn’t taking part in their daily lives. He realised to do this he needed to come down off
the veranda and actually go and live with the natives. This style of field work, speaking the
language fluently, living with the community, keeping detailed daily notes, came to be called
participant observation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronisław_Malinowski

48. Ethnography:
The Empathic Model
One of the Dr. Patricia Moore is best known for conducting an intensive three-year study of
pioneers of the way our society treats its elders. At the age of 26 while studying Gerontology at
the Universal Columbia University, Moore collaborated with a makeup artist to transform herself into
Design the character of woman more than eighty years of age, with a range of health and
socioeconomic status challenges. She utilized wigs, theatrical make-up, padding, and
movement,
costuming to make her look the part. More importantly, a variety of prosthetics were
Dr. Patricia
employed to limit her physical capacity. Splinted legs and back, taped fingers, cloudy
Moore, is
glasses, and hearing limiters achieved the simulation of an elder woman’s experience
professionally encountering a world designed and built for younger, healthier individuals. This Empathic
associated Model allowed Moore to be perceived as an elder by those around her, and provided her
with Flamingo true access to other elders. The resultant interactions enabled Moore to develop unique
International. insights into the challenges that elders face as consumers, far more effectively than
traditional research methods had ever allowed.
In her own words: “While I was in character, I traveled to more than 100 cities throughout
the United States and Canada. I experienced, firsthand, the reaction of people who,
upon encountering an older woman, a physically challenged woman, chose either to
support my presence or look the other way. I was shown kindness, friendship and love.
And I experienced rejection, hatred and fear. I was attacked by a gang of young boys
on an isolated city street, mugged, beaten and left for dead. The injuries I sustained
have left me with permanent challenge and constant pain. When I reemerged from
the study, once again a young woman, I was forever changed, both as a person and
a professional.” Moore’s experience provides the means by which communities and
corporations alike can benefit. Her rare understanding of elders and consumers of all
abilities has impacted the quality of global products and environments. Moore continues
to expand the knowledge base and concerns for lifespan consumer needs by expanding
the user-centered design research inspired by her Empathic Research Model.
Brian McMahon
Flamingo New York
I experienced
rejection, hatred
Call Brian McMahon at our NYC offices for more information on Dr. Moore and her
association with Flamingo International: +1 212-886-8300. Read the complete story of
and fear.
this study in DISGUISED: A TRUE STORY by Pat Moore, available on Amazon.
28 29
Empathic design.
For three years, Dr. Moore traveled in the persona of an 80 year old, achieving the transformation with complicated prosthetics that simulated the sensory and appearance changes of
ageing.

49. #4 Dress down
Don’t turn up in a suit or anything formal. This is all about being one of them.
In developing countries, you might need to reverse this rule!

50. #4 Dress down
Don’t turn up in a suit or anything formal. This is all about being one of them.
In developing countries, you might need to reverse this rule!

51. #5 Blend in
Play down your role.
Carry absolutely no air of importance “I’m just there to take notes and perhaps ask a few
questions”
Try to maintain a distance and position that lets you slip out of the participant’s viewpoint (so
they can forget you are there)
# Video 5 - Native’s point of view

52. #5 Blend in
Play down your role.
Carry absolutely no air of importance “I’m just there to take notes and perhaps ask a few
questions”
Try to maintain a distance and position that lets you slip out of the participant’s viewpoint (so
they can forget you are there)
# Video 5 - Native’s point of view

53. #5 Blend in
Play down your role.
Carry absolutely no air of importance “I’m just there to take notes and perhaps ask a few
questions”
Try to maintain a distance and position that lets you slip out of the participant’s viewpoint (so
they can forget you are there)
# Video 5 - Native’s point of view

54. #6 Don’t mention
designers
Try not to mention design or designers.
You don’t want participants to alter what they say to impress or second guess who will be
using the information.
This is about minimising the Hawthorne affect. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Hawthorne_effect

55. #7 Watch your
language
Make minimal and only neutral comments like “I see” … as opposed to “good” when
acknowledging comments.
Keep questions open.
After every statement a user makes, ask the question 'why?'
Don't ask compound questions.

56. #8 Off the record
Using the 'off the record' post-session questions often helps to elicit people's real feelings on
the matter. Just before you leave and it seems that the session is over, and your leaving, ask
the participant in a conspiratorial tone of voice what they really thought of the thing you were
testing. You often get get the most insights then.

57. #9 Downplay the tech
Play down any techy kit. The more visible it, the more it diverts people’s attention.

58. #9 Downplay the tech
Play down any techy kit. The more visible it, the more it diverts people’s attention.

59. #9 Downplay the tech
Play down any techy kit. The more visible it, the more it diverts people’s attention.

60. #9 Downplay the tech
Play down any techy kit. The more visible it, the more it diverts people’s attention.

61. Gadgets

62. Video kit
Kodak Z8i
Batteries - 1.5 hours each
32GB SD card
Seinheiser microphone

63. Video kit
Kodak Z8i
Batteries - 1.5 hours each
32GB SD card
Seinheiser microphone

64. Polaroid PoGo

65. Penultamate - More/real stylus

66. Livescribe Pulsepen
Good for field notes
3D sound
Online archiving - good for sharing
Handwriting recognition -search for terms
400 hours

67. Livescribe Pulsepen
Good for field notes
3D sound
Online archiving - good for sharing
Handwriting recognition -search for terms
400 hours

68. Livescribe Pulsepen
Good for field notes
3D sound
Online archiving - good for sharing
Handwriting recognition -search for terms
400 hours

69. Livescribe Pulsepen
Good for field notes
3D sound
Online archiving - good for sharing
Handwriting recognition -search for terms
400 hours

70. Livescribe Pulsepen
Good for field notes
3D sound
Online archiving - good for sharing
Handwriting recognition -search for terms
400 hours

71. Livescribe Pulsepen
Good for field notes
3D sound
Online archiving - good for sharing
Handwriting recognition -search for terms
400 hours

72. Analogue backup
4pen accent palladium - model L495
Moleskin
Faber and Castell - eMotion

73. Freeky iPhone gadgets

74. Freeky iPhone gadgets

75. Get some juice

76. Equib power strip
http://www.eubiq.com/

77. Equib power strip
http://www.eubiq.com/

78. Equib power strip
http://www.eubiq.com/

80. APPS and Software

81. iMovie 11

82. Keywords

83. Convert that sucker
Elgato turbo 264 HD
Brilliant for getting anything into a format iMovie can use
Great for exporting from iMovie to other formats

84. Highlight
http://cohdoo.com/highlight.php

85. Highlight
http://cohdoo.com/highlight.php

86. Highlight
http://cohdoo.com/highlight.php

87. Lifelapse
http://lifelapse.com/

88. Lifelapse
http://lifelapse.com/

89. Lifelapse
http://lifelapse.com/

90. Lifelapse
http://lifelapse.com/

91. Lifelapse
http://lifelapse.com/

92. Lifelapse
http://lifelapse.com/

93. Lifelapse
http://lifelapse.com/

95. Mr Tappy

96. Mr Tappy

97. Video replaced
A Native’s point of view
The last words are reserved for
Bronislaw Malinowski. He stated
that the goal of the anthropologist
(ethnographer), is “to grasp the
native’s point of view, his relation
to life, to realise his vision of his
world.”
# Video 5 - Native’s point of view
The last words aer reserved for Bronislaw Malinowski. He stated that the goal of the
anthropologist (ethnographer), is “to grasp the native’s point of view, his relation to life, to
realise his vision of his world.”

98. Lots more @
squaxor.posterous.com
Learn more at...
http://squaxor.posterous.com/project-methodology
http://squaxor.posterous.com/simons-list-of-ux-techniques-im-trying-to-imp
http://squaxor.posterous.com/2-methods-of-research-analysis