If you do field research or customer development (or want to) this presentation includes some useful frameworks and tips and tricks on how to do it. Including a fun surprise exercise at the end...

1. Research workshop:
Observation and field notes
Rebecca Pardo
Research Director

2. 1. What is observable
2. Objectivity and filters of experience
3. How to actually do it - tips and tricks
4. A fun and cool exercise!
What we will cover today

3. You can use observable data to learn something about a social or semiotic
phenomenon - interaction, behaviour, processes, etc…
What are observations all about?

4. Things you can directly perceive with the senses, not with analysis
What is observable data?
Mental states, emotions, social structures
• progress
• feminism
• patriarchy
What is not directly perceivable?

5. Unless you are doing covert research, you will never get a “natural” setting.
Period.
Objectivity? No.

6. People act different when they know they’re being watched.

7. You will never observe behaviour as it would be without your presence—you can never be a “fly on
the wall.”
Unless you are doing covert research (no-no), you are *always* affecting what you see.
Sometimes people act in a way they think is what you want to see; they may directly benefit from
this.
Sometimes they hide things from you because they are suspicious or nervous about what you will
do with that information.
This should be expected.
Keep in mind that:

9. You are never a neutral observer.
That’s okay. You subjectivity is actually data.

10. Always ask yourself: what may be influencing my perception?
• Culture, individual taste, preferences, beliefs, experience, religion, gender, ethnicity and race, family,
self-image, prejudices
• You know what your boss wants to hear
• Respect for some people more than others
e.g. valuing the perspective of a doctor more than that of a pregnant teenager
• Belief about who is trustworthy
e.g. assuming that children are usually telling the truth
• Internalized norms of politeness
e.g. someone cuts in front of you in line; subconsciously in your account of the scene,
this person is framed as ignorant or unimportant.
Filters

11. Ignoring your filters will produce bad research.

12. “What we call our data are really our own constructions of other
people's constructions of what they and their compatriots are up to.”
-Clifford Geertz

13. an involuntary twitch
an intentional wink
an intentional but fake wink
a parody of a wink
a rehearsal of a wink
Let’s say you observe a wink. Is it:
?

14. “Right down at the factual base we are already explicating: and worse,
explicating explications. Winks upon winks upon winks. Analysis, then,
is sorting out the structures of signification and determining their
social ground and import.”
-Clifford Geertz

15. Okay, now we’ve covered the danger zones.
So…now how do you actually do it?

16. • Take notes even if you’re recording
• Go over them as soon as possible and elaborate/reflect; it’s not fun but otherwise you will
forget important details
• You don’t necessarily know what’s important now; patterns will emerge
• But you can follow instincts; find ways of flagging things for yourself
• Find ways of distinguishing observation from interpretation
• that way you can go back later and re-evaluate your interpretations as you collect more data
and conduct more analysis; others can too
Basic guidelines

17. Harry Wolcott’s observational strategies

18. strategy
look for everything
look for nothing
what it is
try - and fail - to
observe everything
attending to things
that seem somehow
out of line with the
norms - “bumps”
helpful for
forces narrowing; highlights scope
too familiar scenarios: urge to evaluate
too complex scenarios: overwhelmed by
information
look for paradoxes
inconsistencies;
contradictions
surfaces interesting problems;
something is doing on here - tensions,
conflicting ideologies, change
look for the key
problem
central challenge/
concern/objective
that group orients to
in their activities
understanding what a group has in
common; highlighting organizing
motivations and priorities

19. Dell Hymes’ SPEAKING method
setting
participants
ends
act sequence
key
instrumentalities
norms
genre

20. s setting
participants
i.e.
time, place, circumstances, cultural
setting
who is involved and in what role
e.g.
demographics; age, gender, ethnicity,
profession, proficiency with a technology;
attitudes, beliefs
home, design studio, co-working space,
evening, vacation; noisy; fluorescent
lights
p
ends purposes, goals, desired outcomes
developing a to-do list; brainstorming; making
a request; playing; developing consensus;
getting information
e
act sequence form and order of the event
turn-taking; one person speaks followed by Q
+A; overlapping talk and interruptions;
applause+change of topic
a
key tone playful, serious, sarcastic, rushedk
instrumentalities form/styles of speech
writing or communication medium; language
variety/register/dialect
i
norms social rules expected of the event (may
be violated)
n
genre type of event
personal anecdote, political debate, casual
conversation, lesson
g
no applause; don’t talk in caps; raise your hand to
speak; call and response; cheering; wait in line

21. An alternative: Rebecca’s super basic model

22. observation interpretation
user imagines waitlist
as book traveling
through time, not a
line of people?
next steps/implications for
design
need to follow up on people’s
mental models of waitlists; if
this is the case may need to
redesign waitlist function
methodological notes
is this a leading question?
consider rewording it for next
time
participant did not
understand that
their place in line
meant the number
of people ahead of
them to receive the
book

23. Making these distinctions is helpful to think with internally (and also for
clients) to prevent jumping to design recommendations.

24. And now for some fun!
An observational exercise…

25. Split into groups and watch this short video
(If the link doesn’t work, Google “The Situation ordering a cab”)

26. Split into groups
Compare notes
Did you notice different things?
What were they?
Why do you think this happened?
Did you identify any filters that coloured your perception?

27. Thank you
If you have any questions or feedback I’d love to hear from you.
Find me on Twitter at @msrmp or rebecca@normative.com