Virtual Floorspace

My talk on Ethnography 101 at the Usability Professionals Association in Munich went well. The audience was very receptive and about 50% of them participated in the group exercise.

The feedback on my session was very good. It was about a 4.5 on a 5 point scale, including one person who seemed to not like me or the presentation at all.

The most relevant and informative presentation that I attended was by Andreas Hauser and Daniel Markwig of SAP. I took a lot of notes in that one. They discussed how they adapted a major UX initiative to fit within a Lean process, which is very similar to Agile.  The solution was thousands of screens in a complex ERP suite called Business By Design. They didn’t do the typical whining about how hard it is to be UX in an Agile world where documentation is antithetical to efficiency (?huh?). They explained how they used a pattern library combined with use cases and wireframes, to produce a recipe for UX that developers followed.

The overall atmosphere of the conference was very positive. People seemed very smart and focused, and spoke a common UX language, which was interesting to experience.

I really liked the shop windows in Munich. I posted a Flickr photostream:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/43883838@N02/sets/72157624030593401/show/with/4647416633/

Uncategorized e-commerce, e-commerce design strategy, e-retail, ethnography

In the initial review of the millennials apparel shop along data, we’re seeing the following decision-making variables surface to the top:

• Appropriateness: Right for the situation
• Value = (Wear frequency x Matchability)/Price
• Appeal: Makes me look how I want to look
• Personality: Clothes portray the wearer’s mood or personality: flashy, professional, understated, fun, young
• Fit: Size, cut, draping
• Click: Calls out to shopper, love at first sight, drawn to it

We’re going to do a more in-depth analysis to formulate the primary segmentation dimensions. We will also overlay mobile technology.

Copyright 2010, Paul Bryan, Usography Corporation (http://www.usography.com)
Linked In: http://www.linkedin.com/in/uxexperts

Uncategorized design strategy, e-commerce design strategy, e-retail, ethnography, qualitative research, research methods

The shop along is fun. I’ve done in-store apparel shopping with females before, and once again am confronted with a similar shopper decision framework, although the age group is very different. Body image is still critical in terms of time lapse of decision making. The more negative the self-assessment, the longer decisions take, and the more likely participants are to leave a given store without reaching the point of sale, and the more likely participants are, other factors equal, open to technology-based shopping aids. The more positive the self-assessment, the less the focus is on basic assortment factors like color, material, etc. and the more the focus is on less tangible attributes like body area draping and emotional lift. Technology interventions are different for the self-assessment dimension as well, with technology for negative self-assessments focused on shopping options, and for positive self-assessments on social confirmation of having hit the mark.

The above are basic in-process ethnographic study observations; we haven’t started coding the transcripts.

Uncategorized customer research, design strategy, e-commerce, ethnography, qualitative research

I’m conducting a millennials shop along research project this week. I am really enjoying it, as millennials (Gen Y, echo boomers, 18 – 29 year olds) is a frequent and favorite research topic of mine. The one thing that surprises me is how small of a role mobile technology plays in the shopping habits of these 20-somethings.

On the university campus, which is 5 minutes from my home, I see them on their mobile devices constantly. But in the shopping process, they refer very infrequently to mobile technology, and when prompted, they do not envision a significantly larger role. They seem far more likely to use mobile technology for social contact than for shopping (duh!), but I’m surprised at the extent to which that is true. I expected some inkling of a comparison shopping usage pattern using mobile devices.

Uncategorized customer research, e-commerce design strategy, ethnography, methodology, qualitative research

Some of the more common data capture techniques in ethnographic research include:

• Depth interviews
• Participant observation
• Informant debriefs
• Context mapping
• In-context interviews
• Artifact analysis
• Participant diaries and collages
• Webcam diaries

Participant observation is the method that set ethnography apart. But this method has given way in market research to observation, i.e. the researcher does not actively participate in the behavior being observed. Informant debriefs refer to conversations that the researcher has with insiders who understand the behavior being observed, and who can explain phenomena that the researcher finds puzzling. In retail ethnography, this is typically a salesperson.

We use context mapping for nearly every project. We draw a map of the area being observed, include stations at which people pause or interact, and develop codes that allow us to quickly note behaviors and timeframes. Overlaying context maps helps us understand frequently observed patterns.

I enjoy the diary and collage methodologies. They provide a lot of insight into the mindset of participants, although that insight is sometimes difficult to translate into design recommendations.

Copyright 2010, Paul Bryan, Usography Corporation (http://www.usography.com)

Linked In: http://www.linkedin.com/in/uxexperts

Uncategorized e-commerce design strategy, e-retail, ethnography, methodology, qualitative research

Web sites and other technology-based information systems satisfy needs related to a particular task, goal, or need. There is an activity context that is larger than the system’s role in customer satisfaction. That context is usually tied to a location, and that location is where the ethnographic study should take place. It is usually a simple matter to determine the best location.

For example, suppose you are responsible for a web site that sells women’s shoes. An ethnographic approach to researching the needs of women buying shoes online could be to visit the shoe closets of a sample of women in the target demographic, asking them about their current shoes, why and how they purchased the shoes they have, their total spend, their tendencies in terms of style, materials, cost, etc. If there are retail stores associated with the web site, you would probably want to conduct observation and shop-alongs in stores. This research could be conducted more easily in a lab or meeting room setting, but the data captured on site is likely to be much richer in terms of emotions, decision-making criteria, and purchase case histories, giving the work contextual authenticity that is difficult to generate from interview data alone.

It is usually a straightforward process to determine the best location for ethnographic research. Admittedly, it is not always easy or financially feasible to set up a study in that location.

Copyright 2010, Paul Bryan, Usography Corporation (http://www.usography.com)

Linked In: http://www.linkedin.com/in/uxexperts

Uncategorized design strategy, e-commerce, ethnography, methodology, qualitative research

Ethnographic research is broad in scope, so the questions it answers are equally as broad. Ethnography is often used in the discovery phase of a project. Some examples of questions that ethnographic research can answer include:

• How long do people typically spend at each of the resort’s amenities?
• How is length of time for an activity influenced by age? By psychographic type? By total spend?
• Which guest types tend to eat on-site at the resort vs. eating out every night?
• What are the typical traffic patterns through the resort of a young family?
• Where do guests appear to have the most needs for small products that could be delivered instantly by staff?
• What attributes are observed in guests that tend to require the most attention by staff?
• How could better information resources play a role in satisfying guests?

Uncategorized e-commerce design strategy, e-retail, ethnography, methodology, qualitative research

Ethnography fieldwork can be expensive. Part of the expense is due to the time it takes to get significant results, and the travel that is often required. Another expense factor is that ethnography studies require skilled, experienced people to guide the effort. In addition to cost considerations, the results of ethnographic research are sometimes difficult to translate directly into systems design.

Ethnography becomes relevant when design teams need to innovate, rather than incrementally improve an existing design. Ethnographic research is worth the cost when the success of a design is dependent upon being very different from current existing solutions, for example, a completely different way of supporting a real-life activity or exploring a new market opportunity that didn’t exist before.

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” Henry Ford

“The future has already happened, it just isn’t very well distributed.” William Gibson

“The future will soon be a thing of the past.” George Carlin

Copyright 2010, Paul Bryan, Usography Corporation (http://www.usography.com)

Linked In: http://www.linkedin.com/in/uxexperts

Uncategorized e-commerce design strategy, ethnography, methodology, planning user research, qualitative research, research methods