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Ethnographic&Observa3onalResearchMethodsDr.AmiBecker

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WhatisEthnography?EthnographyderivesfromtheGreekword“ethnos”meaningfolk,people,na'onand“grapho”meaningwrite.Wikipediadefinesitas“thesystema'cstudyofpeopleandcultures.”

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ConsumerEthnographyObservingconsumersandusersinterac'ngwithproducts,systems,peopleandfeaturesoftheenvironmentoutintherealworldisagreatwaytobuildempathyandtoiden'fyopportuni'esforinnova'on.

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TheEthnographicApproachEthnographyisapar'cularapproachtoresearchingpeopleandculture.Whilethefounda'onofethnographicresearchiscarefulobserva'onanddocumenta'on,thereareavarietyoftoolsandmethodsthatmaybeemployed.

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ToolsandTechniquesWeuseanumberoftoolsandtechniquestoprovidearichpictureofconsumerbehavior:•  Audioandvideorecordings•  Photostudies•  Journaling•  Storytelling•  Ar'factanalysis

Somesamplemethodsfollow:

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FlyontheWallThisisamethodweuseinpublicandsemi-publicspacestoobservehowpeopleinteractwithaproductorsystem,aswellaswithothersintheenvironment.Flyonthewallis“pure”observa'on,sincepeoplegenerallyarenotawaretheyarebeingobserved.

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ShadowingInthismethod,wefollowandobserveresearchpar'cipantsastheygoabouttheirnormalrou'ne—usingaproduct,execu'ngaprocessorperformingjobsortasks—whiletryingtoremainasinvisibleaspossible.

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VideoStudy

Some'mesweusevideoandaudiorecordingsasanalterna'vetoliveshadowingwhentheobservedbehaviorneedstobemorenaturalis'c(sinceit’seasiertoforgetaboutacamerathanahumanfollowingyou).

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ContextualInquiryTalkingtopeopleinthecontextofuseenablesustoobserveandbe`erunderstandtheirac'vi'es,feelings,opinions,mo'va'onsandneeds.

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TouchstoneToursWealsoaskconsumerstoofferaglimpseintotheirworldbyleadingatouroftheirenvironments—openingdrawersandcabinets,pursesandbriefcases,lunchboxesandbookbags—sothatwecanlearnabouttheproductstheyuseanddetailsabouthowtheystoreandcarrythem.

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Thebestinnova'onstartswiththeuser.Askaboutaresearchstudydesignedforyourspecificneeds.

AmiBeckerLauraDoughertyCLIENTPARTNER,CONSUMER

laura@kascope.comPRINCIPALDESIGNRESEARCHER

abecker@kascope.com