DESIGN ETHNOGRAPHY

What is Ethnography?

 Is a branch of Anthropology and the systematic study of individual

cultures.

 It is also a type of social research that involves examining the behavior of

the participants in a given social situation and understanding the group
members’ own interpretation and such behavior
This is a movie titled “Kitchen Stories”, which is all about
Swedish home scientist carrying out observational studies in
consumers home in the 1950s
Some of defining characteristics of ethnography are
that:

 Research takes place in the participants’ context

 Participant sample sizes are small
 Researchers aim to understand the big picture: participants’ needs,
language, concepts and beliefs
 Artefacts are analyzed to understand how people live their lives and what
they value
 Data is “thick”, comprising written notes, photographs, audio and video
recordings.
What is Design Ethnography?
Design Ethnography

 Is the design team’s job to establish underlying problems, identify the best
solution and then validate that their solution works.
How should you approach design ethnography?

 What goals are users trying to achieve?

 How do they currently do it?
 What parts do they love or hate?
 What difficulties do they experience along the way?
 What workarounds do they use?
Avoiding some common mistakes

 Doing research in the field — but doing the wrong kind of research.
 Not knowing what is and what is not data (because there is no focus) so
user opinions and comments are prioritized over user behavior.
 Not sending experienced field researchers — instead sending people
familiar with interviewing only.
 Doing it after the company has already decided what the design solution
is going to be — therefore looking only for confirmatory evidence and
missing other opportunities.
Participatory Design
What is Participatory Design?
Participatory Design

 Participatory design is a relatively new approach to designing products.

It successfully involves the stakeholders, designers, researchers, and end-
users in the design process to help ensure that the end product meets the
needs of its intended user base.
Benefits of Participatory Design

 Innovative Solutions
- Including new and external people in the design process is a great
way to bring new perspectives. In fact, it may even uncover obstacles
that were not as obvious for the rest of the team and contribute with
fresh ideas that are creative and innovative.
 Reduce the risk of failure
Having stakeholders and users participating in the design process implies
that more people will check each step and uncover possible mistakes
throughout each step of the design process. Consequently, the product's
outcome is less likely to suffer significant modifications, saving time and
costs, and increasing success probability.
 Engagement
A participatory design provides the opportunity for users and stakeholders
to feel that they are part of the design process. Since they are integrated in
the process, they have a higher sense of ownership, which increases
engagement and likelihood to recommend. In other words, when users and
stakeholders feel that they can contribute to the project, they are more
likely to be attached to the product and invested in its success.