Introduction
Design ethnography is a commercially viable version of some key anthropological user research methods. In design ethnography we shadow a participant for a set time while they go about using a design or product in their everyday life. This method may include sitting-in on their work day, watching how they work, the tools they use, and the routines they keep. Design ethnography lets us capture the things that people don’t know are interesting, and identify unseen opportunities to improve their experience.
The benefits
- Being in-depth and un-led, design ethnography lets us observe and capture real-world behaviours that participants may not know they do, or wouldn’t think to share.
- We’ve found it to be the research method most likely to lead to the identification of unknown opportunity spaces (new and interesting ways to reason about a product or design which may not have come about through any other means).
The drawbacks
- It’s time intensive.
- It’s ideally conducted in person. We found that while remote versions can certainly work, they rarely capture the same level of depth that face-to-face interaction provides.
Structure, format and length
Because design ethnography is very organic in nature, the structure works best if it relates to the kinds of people who are participating in the research, and the themes we’re hoping to uncover.
Ideally, participants should not notice our intrusion in a way that changes how they normally go about their tasks. While this can be hard to achieve when the sessions are scheduled, some approaches to minimise unnecessary bias include:
- Limit the number of facilitators to two people. The more observers that are present, the less likely it is that participants will feel like they’re in a normal or natural environment.
- With prior consent, and in compliance with any relevant data capture rules: use small or hidden cameras to record the experience. Placing recording devices in the way of participants may impede or influence their behaviour.
- Hang back. Design ethnography is literally about letting normal life unfold. You’ll probably need to ask questions at some stage, but try to do it in a way that does not disrupt their everyday behaviour.
- Ensure there’s enough time to let things unfold naturally. We’ve found that two to four hours is a good amount of time to target. When sessions were less that two hours, extracting meaningful observations became trickier. We’ve also run some very effective full-day sessions when it made sense to do so.
- Become part of the furniture. Well, not literally. But if you can wear clothes that blends in to the participant’s environment, you’ll be less likely to be perceived as an outsider. For example, if the environment is corporate, you might want to swap your shorts and t-shirt more formal attire. The idea is that you “disappear” into the background as much as possible.
Output
The primary output of design ethnography is detailed observations about real-world user behaviours which you can then analyse and synthesise into actionable insights to further your design.
Suggestions for when and why to use design ethnography
We tend to deploy design ethnography on the earlier side of a typical product development cycle when:
- A new product, platform, or service has been identified and we want to validate our existing thinking and assumptions
- We’re looking to identify and understand a new and unknown product, platform, or service opportunity
- An existing product, platform, or service requires radical rethinking in order to change its trajectory
